


The Ninety-fourth Time

by AcidGreenFlames



Series: It's a Mage Kind of World [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alphys and Undyne take a back seat in this story, Body Shaming, Canon Temporary Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Chara is a bad guy, Cruel Chara, Ecto-Genitalia (Undertale), Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Female Frisk (Undertale), Forced Orgasm, Frisk is a Mage, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mages, Mute Frisk (Undertale), Original Character(s), Rape/Non-con Elements, Sans (Undertale) Has Night Terrors, Sans (Undertale) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Some bullying, Toxic Relationship, Toxic friendship, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, description of depression, description of rape/rape after math, moderate description of torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2020-02-26 23:06:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 26
Words: 189,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18726691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcidGreenFlames/pseuds/AcidGreenFlames
Summary: After reliving the same traumatic events over and over again, Frisk can see that Sans doesn't have much left to give. With each reset that steals away their happy ending, Chara is getting a little closer to breaking the monster completely.Sans is hanging on by a thread, and Frisk knows eventually that thread will snap.Filled with desperation and determination, Frisk does the only thing she can. She calls for help.The mages, her Den, that answer the call  may just be enough to save the underground. They may just be enough to save Sans from what he has endured for so long and remind him that someone out there cares a whole lot about him.





	1. A Foolish Plan

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovely readers! It's been a while for me to have written anything, my muses have all abandoned me. (If you've come looking for Transformer fics, IM SO SORRY! That muse is still missing, although I'm trying to track it down.) 
> 
> This is my first undertale fic but I've recently become re-obsessed with the game and the fandom again. This story popped into my mind and this muse hasn't stopped prodding at me. 
> 
> Please be mindful of the tags, and enjoy!

Frisk’s determination flickered into hopelessness, and something far darker after the ninety-second reset. 

The ninety-second time that she felt the sun on her face. The ninety-second time she saw Sans face light up at being on the surface but becoming dimmer with each time they all made it passed the barrier. This last time his smile hadn’t reached his eyes, and he looked like he was braced for the reset.

It was the ninety-second time that Frisk admitted the truth of what she is _a mage,_ a time mage at that, and was still loved by Toriel. By Sans and Papyrus. By all the others.

It was the ninety-second time Frisk took Toriel’s paw, hoping to introduce her to their family. To her fierce Den that would love the monsters of the underground and would protect them with the same vengeance they protected her.

It was the ninety-second time that Papyrus gasped at the sight of birds, and the ninety-second time that Undyne sobbed at the smell of fresh air. It was the ninety-second time Alphas was mesmerized by the invisibility that was a soft breeze. 

It was the ninety-second time when the demon that had stuck itself to Frisk’s soul laughed, had gathered enough power from the journey to trigger a re-set that Frisk simply didn’t have the power to stop.

_She was still so young! She wasn’t fully trained yet, she didn’t have the power to stop a demon or whatever Chara had become…_ and was sent back to the start of it all with a sob of dismay and Sans haunted eyes following her.

That time line fell apart.

When Frisk walked through the large purple doors for the ninety-third time, she was barely able to hold the tears back. Ninety-two times they had all made it to the surface, Ninety-two times they all ended back up underground once again.

Those ninety-two runs were only the good runs. Frisk couldn’t bear to think how many times the demon had won and take over. How many times had Chara’s possession left Frisk as a passenger in her own body, and watched the demon kill her family while wearing her face? How many scars did Sans carry now, the only other one to remember what Chara had done to them? To him?

How many times had Sans been the one to put a stop to it by utterly destroying her body after Chara destroyed what was left of his heart? How many times after Sans left her dying, chocking on her own blood in the golden hallway did Frisk then wrestle control back from Chara?

How many times had Sans been lost in his own pain and grief, lost in the last time line and simply murdered her when she came through the ruin’s door? How many times had Sans picked himself back up, tried to put the jagged pieces of his decimated emotional walls back into place and pretend everything was fine?

How many times had Frisk watched the light and hope fade from his eye lights and watch Sans die on the inside? How many times had Frisk watched Sans push on and _endure_ for Papyrus’s sake? For her own?

How many more times would he have to? How many more times could he endure?

Frisk lost count and couldn’t bring herself to be angry. She didn’t doubt that one day, one day soon, Sans wasn’t going to be able to pick himself back up, and Frisk needed to find a way out of here before that happened to him. Sans had saved her more times then she could count, and she would do this for him.

Yet, on the ninety-third time, she walked the too familiar path to Snowden with tears running down her face.  She felt the cold breeze of something behind her, but she didn’t look back. Not yet. That wasn’t how the game was played.

She heard him behind her, and Frisk swallowed the sob and wondered why he bothered. He was just as hurt as she was, just as damaged and she just couldn’t understand why he still played the game.

_If only she were stronger._

She could feel him getting closer. Heard the snap of a branch behind her. She didn’t bother looking back any more.

_If only she were older, better trained to deal with a demon. She was still in training!_

Frisk walked a little quicker, wishing Sans would hurry up. The chill from the air around her makes her shiver and her tears are beginning to freeze to her face.

_Her magic just wasn’t strong enough yet…_

_Yet…_

_Yet the coven was always stronger then the mage._

She made it to the bridge, a plan taking hold. It was foolish. It was suicidal.

Lilith would _kill_ her for this.

The sounds of footsteps crunching in the snow make Frisk stop and the chilling voice came behind her.

“H U M A N…”

Spinning around, Frisk threw herself into Sans’ arms with a cry of agony and clung to his jacket. Pain and hopelessness bubbled before she could stop it as she buried her face into his soft t-shirt and sobbed. She sobbed for their happy ending that was robbed. She sobbed for having to go through the terror and fear of fighting all over again.

She sobbed for the Den she was sure could save her, save her friends from another damn re-set, if the horrible plan would only just work.

She sobbed for Sans. He was so broken. So very broken, and Frisk couldn’t save him.

She wanted her sister, her big sister who would do anything, kill anyone to protect her. Lilith would go to war for her, would surely slaughter a demon for her. Lilith would hold her when she fell and scraped her knee and tell her to stay determined. Would hold her hand when Frisk feared the things that lurked in the dark.  

Slowly, hesitantly, skeletal arms wrapped around Frisk’s shoulders and Sans sighed softly, “Heh. Come’on kid.” His voice waivered and he swallowed thickly, “Ya’ can’t give up on me yet.”

Frisk only sobbed harder and felt guilty for it. Sans had been going through this so much longer then she, had been the only thing to stand between Flowey and the surface longer then Frisk’s ninety-three good runs.

“Stay determined Frisk.” He whispered, his voice hallow and small, “You can’t… we need you…” he huffed a sigh and squeezed Frisk a little bit tighter. “Please don’t give up.” His soft voice waivered. He had seen so much death, he had experienced his own death more times than he would ever dare voice. The memories where always there, dancing in the back of his mind like a cruel shadow and reminding him of all the times when Chara and Flowey won.

_He was gasping for air as Chara sawed off another rib, peeling it back slowly away from his spine. His arms and legs were gone, and he couldn’t have lifted a hand to save himself if he still had them. Chara was methodical, and ensured that Sans felt every saw…_

Sans pushed the memory away and clung to Frisk, and he fought so hard to not give up. He pushed the thought about how good it would feel to lay down and sleep away viciously. It was too real to think about how wonderful it would be to let someone else fight the good fight. Let someone else take the hits for a while, and maybe…maybe he would just not ever get up again.

Frisk didn’t let go, couldn’t let go of the front of Sans’s shirt. She knew she couldn’t give up, she knew too many people were counting on her and she needed to do right by them. Yet, she was so afraid to fail. So afraid to be trapped in the Underground for all eternity and never bring her friends to the surface. She sobbed harder into Sans and clung to him with a white knuckled grip, a little girl who was caught up in something much larger then herself.

Sans let out a little wet laugh and lay his cheek on the top of Frisk’s head, “Come on kid. I know this is a lot to put on ya but…. but we need you.”

Frisk nodded into his chest and pushed herself away to sign up at him, Sans feeling guilty as soon as he saw her tear stained face.

‘ _I’m sorry!_ ’ Frisk signed. ‘ _I’m so sorry!_ ’

Sans’ watery frown deepened, hands falling to her small shoulders, “Kid, it’s okay. It’s fine. I’m just…I’m glad you’re you. That’s…that’s what’s important. We…. we can try again.” His voice grew smaller with every word, knowing he would have to leave Frisk to her own devices and win this re-set on her own. She needed to be the one to befriend the monsters of the underground. Not him.  

Frisk huffed and rubbed at her eyes. ‘ _Sans, I’m a mage._ ’ She signed at him and her determination returning, the sadness slowly fading into something much fiercer.

Sans flinched, internally shuttering in fear at the confession for the ninety-third time. It took concentrated effort that Sans didn’t realize he still had to remain where he was, and his fondness for Frisk is what kept him there. A platonic love that made him look at her like she was a little sister. Yet, mages and witches still bred fear in the underground, and Sans still sometimes had trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that those blood thirsty killers who had trapped them to rot here where the same as the little girl who had befriended him. 

“I know kid.” He said quietly, clearing his throat, his grip still tight on her shoulders.

She held her ground, taking a deep breath like she always did just before entering a fight. ‘ _We have a saying among mages. The Den is stronger than the mage. The coven is stronger than the Den.’_

Sans brown furrowed, not quiet understanding the sentiment of the phrase, but Frisk’s hands were a flurry of movement and he focused to keep up and understand.

‘ _It means that no one mage is stronger than a Den. That the Coven will be stronger than a single Den. That a Coven will always be stronger than any single mage. Any single being!’_ She looked up at Sans with pure determination now despite the tears that stained her face, ’ _Sans, I come from a very powerful Coven. A powerful Den. I..’_ her hands paused, balling into little fists before unfurling and continued. ‘ _Lilith always said I was a late bloomer. That my powers would come eventually. I think…. I think my ability to save, reset and even rewind to a save point are my powers! Time travel is rare, but not unheard of. I think Chara was a mage at one point, I can feel magic in their soul, and they were like me. But…they’re stronger. So much stronger than me._ ’

Frisk let her hands fall to her sides and grit her teeth, ‘ _Sans I’m not strong enough to stop Chara. But my Den is. My sister is. Lilith,’_ pausing again, Frisk let herself relax at the thought of her older sister, and her soul panged is sadness at the thought of never seeing her sister again, _‘She’s so powerful, and fierce, and good! She can help us! The two of us would be enough to stop Chara!’_

Frisk paused when she felt Sans hands shake on her shoulders, his eye lights faded into his skull so that only empty black remained.  He struggled to keep his voice calm, but Frisk could hear the steel in his voice. The same coldness that he addressed Chara with, but there was panic there now, “Kid. Why are you tell’n me all this? Yo-your Den isn’t here. They can’t help us.”

Frisk felt his distress in waves, felt his soul pulsing his terror and hurt that he usually kept carefully bottled up, and it made her shiver. Sans scared her sometimes, when he got lost like this, when his fear got the better of him. Yet, she stayed determined and held her ground. ‘ _Because I think if I’m determined enough, I can reset to the start of the day I fell down here. All the way back to when I was on the surface with Lilith and my Den. I can bring back help to stop Chara and stabilize the time lines.’_

Sans bones rattled and Frisk took a half step back before he spoke. “If you can go all the way back, why would you come back at all?” he lost his steel and his voice was empty, “No one would blame you if you didn’t come back and left us all here.” He shrugged and let her go, turning away. “This isn’t your fight anyways.”

Frisk felt herself fill with determination that flickered into _rage_. To hell with this not being her fight! It was as far as Frisk was concerned! Sans needed to understand! Reaching out, Frisk caught his hand and gave the boney appendage a sharp tug. Sans seemed to sink into his jacket, but his phalanges still wrapped around her hand. “Honestly kid, if ya got the option to get out of here, do it.”

Frisk growled and tugged harder on his hand until he turned watery dark eyes towards her. Only when he had, did Frisk dare let go and sign. _‘Not leaving you down here! I don’t have the strength to stop Chara, but Lilith does! I’m sure of it. I just need to get her, and I will come back. I promise.’_

“Shouldn’t make promises kid.”

_‘Promise!’_ Frisk signed with confidence. She wasn’t going to leave Sans or any of them down here. _‘I will come back.’_

She wrapped her arms back around Sans’ middle and squeezed hard. She gripped at his sweater and eventually he sighed and hugged her back.

“…Kay kid. How do we get you to the surface?”

Frisk buried her head into his chest. _‘I have to die to reset.’_

Sans went cold when he saw her tiny hand sign that above her head, her fingers trembling.

_‘I’m afraid to do it by myself.’_

“Frisk.” _NO!_ He couldn’t do it, not this time. Not to Frisk. Not when he wasn’t still riding on the last time lines coat tails and trapped there thinking all his friends were dead. Not when he knew it wasn’t Chara he was murdering.

_‘I can’t rewind or reset if I don’t die. Not yet, I’ve been trying. So far it only happens when I die.’_ She looked up to see his blank eyes and mouth pulled into a grim line. _‘Please Sans. It’s going to work.’_

Sans grit his teeth and looked like he hated himself more than he ever had, “Kid…” he then huffed out a sigh and pulled her into a tight hug. Frisk buried her head into his shoulder and gripped his jacket tightly as a Gaster Blaster appeared behind Sans, and he hated himself with how easily he could be persuaded.

“I’s okay Frisk.” He muttered and put his head down, his face pressing into her hair. “I’ve got ya.” He muttered, sounding a little bit drunk, “You’re gonna wake on the surface, and you’ll get to see the sun and feel its heat. And feel a breeze on your skin and get caught in the rain. Stay up there and live a happy life. That’s what you’ll do.” Frisk wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince, her or himself.   

Her grip on him tightened, and he gripped her back just as hard as they heard the blaster power up, the humming causing Frisk to shake in Sans’ arms, “It’ll just take a second.” He mumbled and Frisk felt a tear fall into her hair as the blaster fired, and Frisk knew nothing but pain.

Then nothing at all.


	2. Another Little Mage falls into the Underground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk makes it back to the surface and gets help. Her sister is less than thrilled about what has been happening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frisk and Lilith make it to the underground. Lilith is not prepared to have a good time.

On the ninety fourth reset where Frisk remained herself, she filled herself with as much determination and magic as she physically could.

She hadn’t expected Sans to take the hit with her, something she was eternally grateful for, there was nothing worse than dying alone and she wasn’t going to let his sacrifice go to waste. Not when he was going to hate himself more than he already did after that little stunt. Not when he would be plagued by nightmares of what he had done.

Frisk felt herself floating in the void, in the world between worlds, before she was being pulled back down to a bed of flowers. Yet, she refused and pushed back further as hard as she could. She pushed away from the underground and focused on going home.  

She could see herself walking up the mountain path to Mt. Ebott, determined to find the monsters in Lilith’s stories.

_Further!_

Frisk felt herself be pulled along, a tug at her belly brining her back to something that felt so similar. She saw herself training with Sloan that morning, and Frisk found herself pausing at that moment in time. She watched as the beautiful Sloan, the powerful spell caster from their Den, was showing her the intricate and difficult hand movements of a memory spell. 

The mage’s brilliant smile had broken hearts, both literally and figuratively, and brought out the warm red undertones of her cinnamon colored skin. Her bright smile brought light so full of joy to her soft brown eyes, and her dark, smooth skin showed not a single wrinkle despite the smile she always wore. Her chocolate brown hair was packed into perfect tight ringlets, with not a hair out of place and her magic humming through the thick strands giving the illusion of a midday blue sheen.  

Frisk felt a pang as she watched Sloan go through the motions with her, knowing she was about to lose this precious memory with Sloan. She loved Sloan! The spell caster had been Lilith oldest and greatest friend, who had been through the war with Lilith and snuck Frisk extra treats after dinner time.

Sloan’s delicate, long fingers gently gripped the Frisk’s from the past, rearranging the much smaller fingers into the proper position.

“Remember.” Sloan told Frisk, who voice soft and almost musical. A complete ruse to hide the raw, vicious power that lay beneath, “A memory spell is a powerful tool. So many mages will try to hurt you through taking away your memories, and stars forbid if you meet a time mage. A memory spell can surpass even that! It can be used to remind you of memories that others have tried to take away, and if done correctly can warn the Den of an impending attack.”

Sloan’s smile sharpened and for a moment her eyes flashed cyan as magic filled her and her protective nature flashed, “And Frisk, if anyone tries to harm you, you tell me. Lilith will surly kill them, but I will make them suffer for it.”

The sharpness and cyan were gone in an instant, and the softness to her face returned. Sloan laughed and ruffled Frisk’s chest nut brown hair, “But worry not young one! The danger has passed, and the war is over.” Sloan pushed herself to stand, brushing the grass from her bright silk dress, the golden threads of the material making her shine in the sun like a radiant goddess. She lifted her hand to brush a dark curl from her gentle eyes, and Frisk could see her Den mate’s war tattoo that read in delicate, curly writing, **PESTILENCE** , “Come along Frisk, let’s go see if we can sneak treats passed Lilith’s nose!”    

The Frisk of that time smirked and took the hand that reached to help her up, and Frisk pushed away from the time line with a pang in her heart. She…she could come back right there. At that happy memory…and maybe…stay?

Dark, fearful eyes flashed in her mind and the thought of Sans crying hurt her heart just as much. Sans, who had sacrificed so much to protect everyone. Sans, who suffered and endured so that others would have a chance. She could relive this time line another day, but Frisk didn’t think she had the strength to leave if she came back with Sloan.

Frisk pushed away, followed the pulling at her naval.

_Further!_

Frisk felt the pull harder now, faster! Until….

Until she woke up to the soft buzz of an alarm next to her, pressed into the soft blankets and bed in her own home. She was suddenly safe, in the centre of their Den’s compound and protected by their power, reputation and the beasts they had summoned to help protect them.  

Beside Frisk’s bed, a golden save star twinkled happily at her, something Frisk had not seen before.

Frisk shot up, a smile spread across her face as she looked to the window and saw the _sun!_ It had been so, so long since she saw the sun! Felt its heat on her face and watched her Den train in the early morning light. Relief filled her then, so quickly and deeply that it nearly made Frisk weep with it. She folded in on herself and clutched at her ribs with a broken half sob that she tried to chock back.

The door to her room opened, and Lilith popped into the room, her lips tugging into a small frown at her little sister, not suspecting what Frisk had been up to. Frisk felt her smile get wider again and the sadness ebb. Her sister’s tall, muscular form was a balm to Frisk’s battered soul, and she almost sobbed in relief at seeing her.

Lilith frowned at her sister’s expression, not understanding the sudden look of pure happiness, as though Frisk had not seen her sister in months and Lilith had not tucked Frisk into bed the night before. Tilting her head to the side, Lilith gave her an unsure look, “Frisk?”

Frisk couldn’t help but stare. It was like she had forgotten that her sister’s almost cool-looking, moon lit pale skin was splashed with light freckles across her nose and shoulders, and when Frisk had been younger, she had played connect the dots with those faint spots. She had forgotten that Lilith looked like she was never warm, the cool undertones of her skin making it look like it had been stretched over ice in the paleness she had gotten from her father.

Frisk had forgotten about the scar that cut through her left eye brow, not from battle but from an accident with Sloan that neither mage were able to talk about and would break into fits of laughter if one of them thought about it.  Frisk had forgotten about Lilith’s dark brown eyes; whereas Sloan’s deep brown eyes held a softness to them that lulled enemies into a false sense of security, Lilith’s brown eyes were hard and cold like granite. Enemies knew she was a killer right from the beginning, and allies had to watch for the kindness there.

“Frisk, you…okay?” Lilith asked, her usually cold face falling a little as her bed slept reddish brown hair slipped over a bare shoulder. 

Still in her pajamas, work out shorts and a tank top, Frisk for the first time really noticed that her sister looked like she should be training the royal guard with Undyne, muscular and hard, whereas Sloan looked like she should be on the cover of a fashion magazine, willowy and soft.

They really were a perfect team, hot and cold, the knife in your back and your front. As a pair on the battle field they had a higher combo kill count then even Lilith and Felix, another battle mage in their tiny, tiny Den. Two vengeful mages who would do anything to protect their people.

Her eyes drifted down to her sister’s wrist, where there had been a dark black tattoo stamped onto her pale skin, reading **DEATH** in bold, thick black letters, so different from Sloan’s. It signified who she was, what she had become in the name of the Coven.   

Frisk smiled, bright and real, so easy to do so when she saw her big sister, _‘I’m fine.’_ She jumped up and raced to her, throwing her arms around Lilith’s legs in a hug.

The steel from Lilith’s eyes softened a little as she knelt and wrapped her arms around Frisk, “Well I’m not sure what brought this on, but I’ll take it.” Lilith huffed a small laugh, giving Frisk a little squeeze, “Come on down for breakfast, Sloan wants to go over memory spells this morning.”

Frisk nodded and gave her sister one last squeeze before letting her go. Lilith stood and gave Frisk another odd look, “You… you’re sure you’re okay?” 

Frisk gave her sister the biggest smile and thumbs up, and the thought of Sans alone in the underground with Flowey squeezed her soul. She needed to get back with help.  

Lilith nodded and offered another flick of the corners of her mouth in a small smile, ruffling Frisk’s hair, “So weird. I’ve just gotten a feeling of deja vu.” Frisk felt her smile fall a little. Lilith shrugged, “Weird. Eh well, come on down for breakfast, I’m going to get dressed.”

Frisk managed a little wave and watched her sister leave. The door clicked shut behind her, and Frisk felt herself fill with determination. She didn’t have much time, and this time she would be ready for the underground.

Changing quickly into purple stripped shirt and purple slacks, Frisk raced to her closet and pulled out a black backpack that shimmered with cyan magic. Smirking, Frisk carried it to her closet and dug through her cloths, Fate have mercy, she would bring some warmer cloths with her for Snowdin. Maybe even a change of underwear.

A thick purple sweater was shoved into the backpack’s black maw, followed by a pair of winter boots, long pants, a t-shirt, a few pairs of underwear, snow pants and her winter coat. She had to dig for her hat and mittens but found them all the same. She shook the charmed backpack and it still felt light, and she smiled. This had been a gift from Sloan, and the backpack could hold a lot more and weight a lot less.

Brimming with determination, she carried the backpack from her room to Lilith’s. She carefully snuck inside, ensuring that Lilith was not in there and she tip toed her way to her sister’s closet. Looking through her sisters’ things, Frisk frowned and not entirely sure what to grab.

She knew she had to be quick, she needed to get back to the underground. She had made a promise, and if she stayed too long it would be harder to leave.

Frisk felt frantic as she dug through her sisters’ things, it was harder to find warmer cloths in a closet that wasn’t hers. Still, Frisk still managed to shove in a spare t shirt, a sweater, a winter coat, gloves, a hat and snow pants. She frowned at her sister’s underwear drawer, finding nothing but thick socks and black lacey panties. Frisk shrugged and shoved a couple of extra pairs into the bag as well. The winter boots had been harder to find, buried all the way in the back, but Frisk managed to find them.

She slipped out of Lilith’s room easily, closing the door quietly with a soft click. It would be a while before they were back. Taking a deep breath, Frisk pulled the backpack on and tried to prepare herself. Tried to ignore the anxious ball in her gut that mixed with fear. Tried to ignore the excitement of going back with help, just _knowing_ that everyone would love Lilith.  

Her sister was going to be so mad. Yet, Frisk needed her. Frisk needed her to love the monsters of the underground like she did.

She was still going to be so mad.

Frisk crept down the hall way and she could hear her Den mate’s downstairs, having breakfast. She could hear Sloan laughing and Lola making breakfast. Felix was singing softly to a song on the radio, and Frisk’s heart squeezed in her chest. She needed Lilith to come first, needed her to bond to the others before her Den met them. If Lilith loved them, the others would be easier to convince.

“What are you doing Frisk?” a deep voice with a thick Russian accent asked her from behind, and Frisk spun around with a squeak, adrenaline spiking as she startled.

Looking up Frisk grinned. Ryder started down at her with a confused frown, his sandy blonde hair was shorn very short, and his thick, tree like arms where crossed over his barreled chest. The thick scar from a vicious battle ran from his left temple, across his face to the opposite side of his chin.    

Frisk threw herself at her Den mate, his light blue eyes widened in surprise at the sudden hug and he bend down to pick her up. Frisk giggled, feeling tiny and _safe_ in his massive arms and she hugged him with all her power.

Ryder chucked deeply and hugged her back gently, his baritone voice rumbling through her, “You’re getting so strong!” he told her, the confusion fading into joy.

Snuggling into her Den mate, their illusionist, Frisk was always amused how he could disappear so easily despite his size, towering over everyone in their Coven at a stunning seven feet. Frisk would forever be amused that the other Covens called him _famine_ due to his ability to stop supply chains from behind enemy lines, and Frisk knew his assassination count was higher than both Lilith’s and Sloan’s combined.

They however, had a much higher overall kill count then Ryder, and they often bickered over who was the better killer despite knowing they worked better together. Frisk knew they weren’t joking, knew they were indeed as deadly as they joked about, their dark humor their favored method to cope.     

She would be sad to leave him for now, but knew that Ryder would be the first one after Lilith to welcome her underground friends into their family, their Den. There was no one kinder then Ryder when it came to friends and family, which surprised her for someone who had a justice soul. Lola had been too hardened by war to be like that anymore, kindness soul or not.

Ryder set her down and ruffled her hair. “Going someplace kiddo?”

There was a pang in Frisk’s heart, Sans called her kiddo too. She needed to get back.

Yet, Frisk refused to give in to fear or doubt. She could win this game. She would defeat Chara and Flowey and bring everyone to the surface. Ryder would love them, and would help them acclimatize and get settled, that’s just who Ryder was.

Frisk nodded, knowing she would never be able to lie to Ryder, _‘Going on an adventure!’_

 Ryder laughed. “You sure you’re not a bravery soul Frisk?” he ruffled her hair again and shook his head as he set her down. “Lilith’s just finishing up in the bathroom, come on down and have your breakfast.”

Frisk grinned and nodded, and after a moment of hesitation, Ryder went down stairs on silent feet. Frisk watched her massive Den mate head down the stairs with a pang in her soul.

This was it, this was the chance Frisk needed. Sloan had already taught her how to use a memory spell, and a memory spell can be used to warn a Coven of impending danger.

Frisk did the slow, complicated movement with her wrist and memory helped keep her fingers in the correct position. She mouthed the words needed for the spell and thought about the words very, very hard, poured all her intent into her magic.

_‘Memory, memory come to my need. Trap the memories of times underground within my grasp, show me all iterations, the good and the bad. Bring me the dangers that lie in wait, show me the friends who wait for somebody to come. Bind the memories of the underground to flesh so they too can be shared with those of flesh.’_

She hoped her incantation was powerful enough, her words had been carefully thought out to bring the most emotion to her soul. She knew that memory, memory come to my need was the only part she needed to say, that everything beyond that was up to her and the words that she chose.

Crimson magic surrounded her hand, and Frisk smirked. 

Lilith came around the corner, no longer dressed in her pajamas, and was now in a pair of jeans and a dark tank top. She was binding her right hand for training, the left already done, her hair pulled back into a long reddish-brown pony tail.

Her brown eyes looked down to Frisk and she saw the magic that surrounded her sister’s tiny hand. Lilith’s eyes softened and her mouth fell open into an O of surprise, “Frisk!” she sounded astonished and delighted, “That’s a memory spell! And…and it’s a strong one! Frisk look at you!”

Pride swelled in Lilith’s heart, and her smile grew as Frisk held out her hand. Her eyes widened and her smile brightened, “You want to share your first memory with me?” that was a big deal! It was a show of ultimate trust to share a memory, and Frisk’s first memory spell was going to be with her!

Lilith finished tucking her wraps at her wrist, and with a rare beaming smile, she reached out and took Frisk’s hand. Memories exploded behind Lilith’s eyes, and they had her gasping for air, every muscle in her body locking in preparation for a fight that wasn’t there.   

The memories were not what she expected. Not at all.

Lilith had expected something happy and soft, like when Lilith got Frisk her first bike, or when Lola got her ice cream on Sundays and didn’t think Lilith knew about that. Or when Felix would sing to her. Or when Ryder would take her out on his motorcycle when they went out for lunch. Or Sloan taking her to the park to play with her, knowing the other kids wouldn’t want to because Frisk couldn’t talk. She was the ultimate little sister to the world’s most protective Den, and they had guarded her with the utmost vicious intent. 

With that in mind, when Lilith had taken Frisk’s hand, the last thing she had expected to see was time lines and death, _Frisk’s death_ , and skeletons with sad eyes. Lilith squeezed Frisk’s hands and her knees buckled and she hit the ground. The memories burned into her own and Lilith _knew_ what it felt like to be taken over by a demon, to feel its tar like presence on her soul and made her kill the friends she made.

The name Sans came up a few times, and Lilith could feel Frisk’s bond with the punny little monster. Her drive to save him from the thing below the earth, like a brother or a Den mate. The only one below who remembered everything, and the one who suffered the most at the hands of Chara and Flowey.

She hated those two already, based on Frisk’s horrific memories. They reached the surface ninety-three times before Frisk started to give up hope and came up with the _worse_ plan imaginable to come get help.

She could only imagine the guilt Sans would carry with him after he took Frisk’s life to send her back to the surface. The memories ripped through Lilith hard, ninety-three times that they had made it to the surface, and the _hundreds_ of times when they had not. When Chara had won and had taken her baby sister’s body like a puppet. The hundreds of times Frisk screamed for Sans while Chara brutalized him. Butchered him, and Lilith wasn’t sure how the little monster had remained even half sane.

Lilith let go of Frisk’s hand and collapsed on the soft carpet of the hall way. She panted hard and her eyes flickered crimson as magic filled her body, “Y-you’re not going back. I’m not letting you die again!”

Lilith is full of determination and rage but still disoriented from hundreds of memories being shoved into her soul in a matter of seconds, and Frisk anticipated this. They each had a determined soul, Frisk knew how Lilith would think, knew that if she tipped into the darkness it was rage that would take over.  Frisk knew her sister’s protective streak would care more about her then anyone in the underground, and Lilith wanted to protect Frisk.

Frisk just needed Lilith to protect her in the underground.

Yet, Frisk had a plan and with a look that refused to back down, she turned and bolted down the stairs, jumping over the entire first flight that was small enough to leap over. Frisk was fast, had escaped Undyne nearly a hundred times, she could avoid her sister.

She barely had time to slam her little feet into her shoes and run. The sun was bright and hot, and the compound that was their home was at the base of Mt. Ebott.

She looked back to see Lilith bolting outside after her, screaming her name, screaming for her to come back before she tore after her. Frisk laid on the speed and kept running, ignored the pang as Sloan called out after them, asking what’s wrong.

Frisk refused to stop and kept running. Kept going up the same path to the cave that she fell through. She darted through tiny holes in the underbrush, making it harder for Lilith to keep up.

“FRISK!” she screeched. “Frisk stop!”

Frisk refused.

Somehow, mostly luck since Lilith’s magic made her stronger and faster, Frisk made it all the way to the lip of the Mt. Ebott hole that would take her back to the underground.

Lilith tripped over a branch and stumbled out from the under growth that she had chased Frisk through. Panting like a wild animal, Lilith growled, “Frisk, don’t you fucking dare. You are not going back there to die again.”

‘ _Then come protect me.’_ Frisk signed to her sister with a smile and took a step towards the gaping hole so that the back of her shoes were hovering over the edge. She spread her arms and with one last smile at her sister, Frisk tipped herself back in a backward leap of faith.

“Frisk NO!” Lilith shouted and Frisk saw panic, pure and raw, in her sister’s usually cool eyes as she began to fall. Lilith traced, her magic forcing her body to become smoke and shooting forward at incredible speeds and reappeared just before Frisk, her arm out reached to grab Frisk’s shirt and her finger tips barley grazed the front.

Frisk smiled as she fell backwards and back into the underground. _Please Lilith. Please!_

As Frisk began to fall, her chestnut hair flaying up around her face, she saw her sister take a leap of faith and fall after her.

Relief filled her and everything went black. 

.

 

 

 

 

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.

When Frisk woke again, it was on a bed of golden flowers in a cool, damp cave. She could see the speck of shimmering light above her from where she fell, and the grey stalagmite hung dangerously overhead. Frisk groaned, having landed funny on her backpack, and perhaps she should not have taken a backwards dive off the cliff.

She stretched her back with a grimace and felt her spine pop. Heh, she’d have to tell Sans about her _spine-tingling_ experience, and Frisk smirked to herself.

“Frisk.” Came a very calm but angry voice behind her. Frisk spun around, and a look of pure joy spread across her face.

Lilith did not look excited. “I. Am not. Impressed.” She hissed from between gritted teeth, “I cannot believe you jumped when I said not to!”  

Instead Frisk pushed herself up to his feet and threw herself at her sister, hugging her for all her worth. Lilith grunted with annoyance, but still hugged her back.

_‘I need your help.’_ Frisk signed as she pulled back from her sister and Lilith shivered. They didn’t have much time until Toriel would save them from Flowey, _‘We can save everyone! I know we can.’_

“I don’t care about everyone!” Lilith snarled, cold brown eyes flashing crimson and Frisk flinched back. It looked too much like Chara, but Frisk knew it was from her determined soul and ruby magic. “I care about you Frisk, only you! I don’t care about Toriel,” _but she had given Frisk the best pies,_ “Or Sans” _and really, he made her laugh,_ “Or Papyrus,” _the precious cinnamon roll_ “Or any of them!” The affection she had for them was manufactured by Frisk’s memories. The feelings she had for them were not real.

“And they’re shitty friends anyhow! Toriel is going to attack you for trying to leave! Sans does literally _nothing_ to try to help you! Papyrus,” Lilith paused here before her face scrunched up in anger and struggled to find what Papyrus did wrong, “Fucking betrays you to Undyne! Undyne kills you at least a dozen times in _each reset!_ Frisk, I’m not joking I will kill her myself! Fucking Mettaton is a puppet and Alphys is traitor! And Asgore!” she let out an out of character cry of frustration and threw her hands into the air, a sure sign of her stress and unease, “Why do you care about these people Frisk! Why should we care about them? Why should we die for them?”

Lilith was panting and angry and protective, her soul putting out protective rage and love in thick, confusing waves. Her determination was tipping into rage, and Frisk needed her sister to help her, so she chooses her words carefully. _‘And you and Sloan are killers.’_ Lilith flinched but didn’t disagree. _‘You have done horrible things to survive. They have done horrible things to survive. Don’t forget that Toriel is a grieving mother, Sans probably has PTSD, Papyrus only friends are Undyne and I, Undyne just wants to save everyone and Alphys tried to save those who gave up hope. And Mettaton is not a puppet! I know I can befriend everyone down here, I just need your help Lilith.”_

Lilith looked unconvinced, arms crossed over her chest in pure annoyance, so Frisk pulled out the big guns. She pouted, her green eyes going around and sad. Lilith’s lips became a thin line of annoyance. _‘I need your help Lil. Please. I’ve been trying so hard, you’ve seen how hard I’ve been trying. I can do this, you’ve seen me do this.’_

“I’ve seen you die Frisk!” she snapped, and there was fear in those crimson orbs. Sorrow at the memory of her little sister dying, “I’ve seen you die again and again, or become a vicious demon!”

_‘And now you’re here to protect me. I just need your help Lil.’_ Lilith sighed and rubbed at the spot between her eyes, she looked back up to her sister. _‘I think you can help stabilize the time lines, Chara won’t be able to destroy the timeline if your magic is throughout the underground. Just make sure it’s saturated.”_ Frisk paused, and really thought about who her sister is. Her kill count was so high, her LV was stable and controlled, but when it came to Frisk’s life there was nothing that Lilith wouldn’t do for her. “ _and don’t kill anyone!”_ she added on firmly, like an order.

Lilith rolled her eyes. “I make no promises.”

Frisk frowned, and knew it was probably the as close to a promise as she would get, ’ _Can you look out for Sans too? He’s so hurt.’_ She admitted, thought about those dull, sad eyes, _‘He could do with a friend. Someone who will watch his back and not turn on him. Someone who is willing to…to go to war for him.’_ Frisk paused, her hands falling still, and she let the worry and hurt bubbled from her stomach like something acidic. To anyone but a battle mage going to war for anyone was a terrifying prospect. Going to war for one of their own was nothing for a battle mage. With Frisk’s memories and affection for Sans, it wouldn’t take Lilith long to bond to him, _‘He’s losing hope Lilith. He doesn’t have much left to give with all of these resets.’_

It was true, Sans was giving up hope little by little, falling apart a little more with each reset, each time Chara won and decimated everything he loved only to do it again. Sans was breaking, and he needed someone who _was_ willing to do the dark deeds to keep what was left of his soul intact. 

That someone wasn’t Frisk, couldn’t be Frisk. Lilith was the solider, the warrior. Not Frisk. 

Lilith’s cold eyes darkened but the red hue faded back to brown, “No promises.” That was a promise as far as Frisk was concerned. She knew her sister.

Frisk jumped up and brushed herself off. _‘Let’s go Lil! We have a kingdom to save!’_ Frisk’s movements were made with the flourished excitement that only a child could have.

Lilith glared, “Yay.” She deadpanned, then paused. “Wait! You’re a time mage!”

Frisk grinned brightly at her sister, confident that she now had a coven mate and practically skipped out of the garden room, ignoring her sister’s sudden knowledge of how Frisk’s magic had developed.

Lilith scowled in frustration and threw her arms up again before she buried her face into her hands and screamed wordlessly. She wished she had yelled for Sloan to come along, or anyone from her Den, but especially Sloan, the spell caster and she were a force to be reckoned with. A stupid little demon wouldn’t be able to stop them.

Taking a breath to calm herself, Lilith pushed herself up to stomp after her sister and through the grey door.

Frisk had already paused, frowning deeply at the little gold flower, almost looking sadly at him.

Flowey, the memories that Frisk had shared with her supplied, and too many fresh yet old feeling memories all clamored to thrust itself to the fore front of her brain. Trying to show her exactly what this horrible little creature had done to the underground, had done to Frisk and Lilith swallowed thickly to shove the memories away. The memories were easy to push down into a deep little box in her mind, the feelings that came with them were not, and everything inside was screaming for Lilith to go on the attack, go get ‘em and end it here and now. This little creature had harmed her little sister, and so many of her friends, and Lilith growled deep in her throat. It was aggressive and animalistic.

Frisk was a pacifist.

Lilith was not.

She came to stand behind Frisk as Flowey explained what souls were and how a battle took place. Lilith rolled her eyes, as if any mage didn’t know that, and her magic crackled with agitation.

Frisk glanced up to her sister as both of their souls were drawn out and a battle began. Lilith felt her body automatically become loose and languid in preparation for battle, and she glared at Flowey as he spoke, “And you can gain a lot of LV if…”

“Don’t get LV.” Lilith snapped at the comment, and Flowey blinked at her.

His little eyes narrowed, “Alright Frisk, who the hell is this?”

Frisk grinned, but it was a touch sharper then Lilith had ever seen from her sister and that made her frown. Her sister had been so innocent before coming here.

_‘Sister.’_ Frisk signed happily, her grin still wide and showing too many teeth.

Lilith glanced from Frisk to Flowey, and a memory fought its way free from the little black box and popped up uninvited.

_Flowey had wound his way through Papyrus’s body, and Frisk shivered as her friend sobbed in pain and cried out for the tiny human or his brother to save him. Sans was next to Frisk, anger and fear mixing in his soul and projecting hard as he offered himself to Flowey in place of his brother._

_Flowey had crushed Papyrus, right then and there, caving in his chest and turning him to dust that blew away on the wind. The horrible little thing laughing at Sans’s anguished screams._

_Sans had broken, sobbing in pain and grief over his lost brother. He died not long after, not able to cope with the heart ache of losing his brother, his soul giving up all hope while he lay shivering in Frisk’s arms. Knowing he could defeat Chara in Frisk’s body to bring Papyrus back, but not Flowey. Frisk would have to die to bring Papyrus back, and Sans didn’t have it in him to kill Frisk._

_He gave up, despite Frisk’s soft begging to keep fighting, to stay determined._

_Frisk had thrown herself into the lava pits in Hotland to trigger a reset to try again._

Lilith blinked away the memory, and on the brink of tears. She could still feel Frisk’s guilt like her own, her baby sisters’ pain in her very soul. She could still feel Sans trembling in her arms as he faded to dust and apologizing to Frisk for giving up hope. She could still feel his dust on her hands, soft like sand. It got under her fingernails.

Lilith grit her teeth, Papyrus had done nothing to deserve that. Neither had Sans. Neither had Frisk. Memories of Papyrus and Frisk making spaghetti bubbled and Lilith tried to push them down, and something cruel and protective bolted through her.

_The feelings weren’t real!_ She tried to tell herself, _they’re a side effect of the memory spell!_ Yet her soul refused to believe that. It demanded justice, compensation and _protection_ for Papyrus. A sweet cinnamon roll who was so kind to Frisk. Anger filled her, and that dark, protective thing curled tightly around her soul. Coiled like a viper and ready to strike the first chance it would get.    

“What the hell is wrong with your sister Frisk? Is she as stupid as you?”

Frisk frowned at Flowey and blinked up at her sister.

“I said,” Flowey was talking slower now, trying to insult her. “This. Is. Not. How. We. Play. The. Game. You braindead little…”

Lilith lifted her hand up, anger bubbling and Frisk smirked, “I’m gonna stop you right there fertilizer.” She _really_ wished Sloan was there, she and her friend could chirp with the best of them, and together they were downright cruel.

“We’re changing it up, and I don’t care if you don’t want player two to join the game. Now you listen to me, you inadequate fucking dandelion,” Flowey’s face fell at Lilith’s monotone rant, “You will stay the _fuck_ away from Frisk or so help me, you condom factory fail that is a disaster of a person, I will _end_ you.”       

Flowey blinked at her, shocked by the words she carelessly threw at him, “Wha…what did you just say to me?”

“Oh, was I going a little too fast? Do try to keep up, because I’m really starting to see that, _clearly_ , your birth certificate was an apology letter from the condom factory.” 

“You can’t say that to me!” Flowey sputtered, his face becoming dark and angry, his teeth becoming fangs.

“Pretty sure I just did, you spineless, cosmic dipshit.” Lilith grinned widely, cruelly but her voice was calm and even.

Frisk glanced to Lilith’s smirking face and to Flowey’s stunned one. She felt a pang for what was left of Asriel, but Flowey deserved everything he was getting thrown at him. At least Lilith wasn’t trying to kill him, not yet at any rate.

Flowey snarled, eyes becoming dark with hate, “Fucking die!” he spat at her, and threw a bullet at Lilith.

The mage smirked and her eyes flooded crimson, she flicked her wrists and twin swords appeared in her hands, long and thin, sharp in a horrifying way, “Not the only one with magic,” And she took a more defensive stance in front of Frisk, spinning the blades with precision and skill of a battle worn mage.

His face fell as the red magic slammed into the white magic, the impact causing tiny explosions that dissipated before it got anywhere near Frisk. Lilith’s smirk sharpened as Flowey screamed in frustration, “I WILL KILL YOU!” and Lilith rocked forward onto the balls of her feet, settling into a defensive position. Her body was loose and ready for an attack, the blades hung loosely at her hands.

“Then do it.” She mocked, and just as Flowey prepared to attack, a ball of fire slammed into him. Flowey disappeared back underground with a hiss, shooting a dark look at Lilith.

Frisk and Lilith’s souls returned to their chests, and Frisk gave Lilith a thumbs up as the brown returned to her eyes, and she dismissed the swords.

Lilith gave Frisk an amused look, her eyes still hard but her mouth pulled into a smirk, “So you just want me to chirp at everyone we meet.”

Frisk took a moment to consider this before she lifted her hand to indicate so-so, then gave her sister another thumbs up.

“Oh you poor dear!” Lilith and Frisk turned to the new voice, and Lilith frowned at _goat mom_ as Frisk’s memory supplied, “What a nasty creature,” the goat monster with the plushest fur Lilith had ever seen said softly. “Torturing a poor, innocent…” the monster trailed off, her gaze tearing from Frisk’s innocent face to Lilith’s too hard one.

“I..I am…” Frisk frowned, she had never seen Toriel afraid before. She glanced to her sister and wondered what about her that made the monster so afraid. “I am Toriel, guardian of the ruins.”

Lilith glanced down at Frisk, never in any of her memories that Frisk had given her, had Toriel been afraid. Giving her sister a little shrug, Lilith cleared her throat. “Thank you Toriel. I’m Lilith and this is my sister Frisk.” Frisk gave Toriel her best kicked puppy look, “And, uh, thank you for your help there.”

Toriel was looking uncertain between Frisk and Lilith, clearly not sure how to interact with an adult human.

Lilith crossed her arms to hide her discomfort and looked to Frisk for an idea of how to get Toriel on their side. Frisk looked back up at her sister, a little confused, and well….

Oh. Well. Crap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Be Continued....
> 
> Also! Thank you to the posters on the rare insults board on Reddit, you helped me find some entertaining insults for Lilith to spout at Flowey.


	3. Toriel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lilith meets Toriel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't my favorite chapter, and I found that Toriel was really hard to write so I hope it came out okay.

Toriel started at Lilith with wide, frightened green eyes. Her massive paws trembled, and she wrung them nervously in front of her.

Lilith was a killer, she knew that, war had made her into that. Training had honed her skills to perfection and breeding had ensured she was born with the best traits for killing and survival. She was a crafted weapon, born and bred for it. She knew that there were Covens that were terrified of her and her Den. Young mages had run from battle when they knew her Den had been summoned to the field, there were still veterans that would leave any establishment that any of them entered.      

They were feared for a reason, their LoVe was high, even the kind soul that was Lola, their _want_ to do violence could be triggered quickly and executed with a vengeance. Their survival, the survival of their Coven depended on it.

Lilith never regretted what she became. Not once, not when it secured Frisk’s safety and the safety of the other young mages in her Coven. Even when it frightened off other mages from joining their Den.

Lilith never regretted her LV or stats. Never regretted the things she had done or what she became.

Until Toriel had stared at her with frightened eyes and wringing hangs. It made Lilith look down and feel _ashamed_ at what she had done. Ashamed that she was what she was, ashamed at what she had done, Coven or no.

Glancing down to Frisk with uncertainty, Lilith cleared her throat. “Ummm. Th-thank you. For…. that. Again.”

“You are most welcome.” Her voice was soft and shaky. Uncertain. 

The quiet, awkward pause made Frisk fidget, and Lilith looked away.

“Are you here to kill us?” Toriel finally asked, her voice quivering.

Lilith sucked on her teeth and Frisk looked up in shock.

“Why would you think that?” Lilith asked quietly, her monotone voice smooth despite the feeling of her soul sinking into her stomach. Frisk suddenly plastered herself against her sister’s side, slowly reaching up to take a hand in any sort of comfort. Lilith wrapped her long fingers around Frisk’s hand and gave her fingers a very gentle squeeze.

“You’re a mage, aren’t you? I can feel it all around you. Magic. Violent magic and a high…level of violence. I can feel it in your bones, and I can smell the blood on your skin.” Toriel sounded sad, “I have not seen your kind in a very long time.”

Lilith thought about her words carefully. They needed Toriel to save everyone, to bond with Frisk and Lilith felt guilty. The game was changing because of her presence in the Underground, the story that Frisk was used to winning was changing because of _her_.   

“No.” she finally said with as much truth as possible, “No, I’m not here to hurt anyone. My sister fell to the underground, and I came after her. That’s all.”

Toriel seemed unconvinced, “But your LV. I can sense it, and your ease at killing.” She paused for a moment, gathering herself, “I would not blame you if you were here for our souls. We have taken your children and mur-“she broke off in a small sob, and Lilith felt the guilt double.

Memories of the other human souls trapped in the underground bubbled. Memories of those souls saving Frisk, coming to her in her time of need. Lilith was sure that Toriel was remembering them very differently, remembering the when they were human and helpless. Remember them when they had died and felt the guilt of their deaths. Blamed her former husband, blamed herself for her own weakness, and thought that Lilith was here to reap their souls as penance.

Lilith _had_ done terrible things to survive, she didn’t have a choice in war but that hadn’t meant that she looked forward to it, not usually at any rate and she told Toriel as much, “I’ve killed for the sake of survival. How could I judge someone else for doing what I did?” she shook her head no, “I’m not here to judge, I’m here to keep my sister safe. That’s all.”

Toriel looked up, brushing the tears from her eyes with a massive paw, “But you will never escape the underground.” She said sadly.

Lilith shrugged, “We’ll find a way.”

Frisk steeled herself, rolling her shoulders like she had seen Lilith do just before a fight, and untangled her hand from her sisters. Taking even, sure steps, Frisk opened her tiny arms and reached up to Toriel. Lilith froze, muscles going stiff as her baby sister put herself into a vulnerable position with a potential threat.

_And her fucking, traitorous heart constricted at the thought that Toriel was a threat!_

The goat monster simply stared down at the child who smiled up at her with an innocent face and arms open wide. Slowly, Toriel knelt and Frisk was able to wrap their arms around her as much as they could and cuddled into her broad chest. Lilith felt the unease unknot itself from her chest and her shoulders sagged.

“Oh!” came the surprised noise from the monster, and Toriel slowly relaxed. “I…thank you, child. This is very… thank you.”

Frisk released Toriel with a smile, and when she rose, Toriel wiped the last of her tears away. “Oh my, this is silly! That was a horrid question to ask, I am so very sorry my children.”

Frisk beamed, and Lilith felt something warm fill her very soul. It had been a very long time since someone called her ‘their child’ and it filled her with a soft, silly emotion that almost made her smile.

Lilith knew the memories from Frisk were affecting her own emotions, making her feel things that did not belong to her. Yet, seeing Toriel’s face softened to something so unbelievably kind made Lilith not look too closely at whose emotions belonged to who.

Those friendly eyes filled Frisk and Lilith with determination, and Frisk felt her sister’s magic begin to weave among the entrance of the ruins. _Suck on that Chara!_

Frisk felt the air shift around them, as she saved for the first time in this time line, and now Lilith was officially stuck in the underground with her, for better or worse.

“Follow me my children, I will guide you through the ruins and to my home.” Toriel said softly, slowly relaxing in Lilith’s presence.

Frisk grinned and began following Toriel as she hesitantly turned away from the pair and began to make her way home. The younger mage motioned for her sister to follow, and with a huff Lilith did. Quietly following the pair through the ruins, four steps behind Toriel and two steps to the left, protecting her flank, using her sister’s memories to recall how to get to Toriel’s home.

For the most part Lilith was a silent observer, following along behind as Toriel explained how the ruins worked and how to get passed the puzzles. It allowed Lilith to think, figure out how she was going to keep Frisk alive without hurting anyone. She zoned out and followed her sister.

It was time to assess the situation. They had no food, but memory told her she could purchase some at some point. Her only a Coven mate was her baby sister, which meant no back up and that _she_ was the back up. Frisk was a time mage but had little control over her powers and had to die to either go back to a ‘save’ point or to reset completely.

Lilith had no spare tools, no equipment or healing potions. The only thing she had were the cloths she was wearing and her training wraps, but at least her mage type she could use her magic to create weapons and armor with only her imagination as her limitation. She was a deep well, Lilith knew, the one trait she got from her mother that she hadn’t hated. She had magic stores that could keep her alive for a couple of months if she conserved her magic. Weeks if she used it hard without food, water or rest to replenish it. Yet, even her magic had its limitations, without food and water her body would use her magic to keep itself alive before her body began to cannibalize itself to survive, then they would be without defense.     

At some point Toriel left them and Lilith gave her a grunt when she was asked something about being okay. She wasn’t really paying attention and was still sorting out just how fucked she and Frisk were.

Toriel gave Frisk a cell phone and instructions to call her if she got into any trouble. Just like that, she left them all alone with only a concerned glance to Lilith and her thousand-yard stare. In the back of Lilith’s mind, she snorted, but didn’t focus too much on the fact that Toriel would have left Frisk alone regardless of her being here.

Lilith followed Frisk again, this time half paying attention as Frisk spared the Froggits and Whimsalot of the ruins, giving each one of them a hug before continuing their way. Frisk looked up at Lilith with a frown, finding her sister deep in thought, not even noticing when she gave a little Whimsalot a pat on the head as they walked by. The little monster gave the taller mage a strange look before skipping off quickly.

Lilith had a high defense, knew how to take a hit and how to deliver a hit without killing. Her healing was shit, she knew that, but selective breeding had ensured that her body would heal itself from even a lethal wound, so long as her soul didn’t shatter. It was a trait that had been bred into almost every battle mage at this point, and usually Lilith hated thinking about what she was, what she had been bred to be. Yet, the healing trait had its uses. It wasn’t pretty and clean like when Lola healed her, her healing magic _always_ left a scar, but the point was she _could_ heal herself and pull herself back together.  It would cost her to do it, a lot of magic and she had such little food.

Yet, she would not be able to heal Frisk. Lilith’s frown deepened at the thought, she could not heal Frisk if they got into a real scrap, like the one with Undyne.  

“I’ll have to take the hit.” Lilith muttered, and knew it was the only way. Frisk had low stats and no LV, Lilith had it for days, so it only made sense that she be the one to take the blow.

Lilith sighed and cursed the situation. So, she had no back up, no extra equipment, was traveling with a half-trained child, couldn’t kill anyone and couldn’t heal her sister.

Great.

At least she had her magic.

A sharp tug brought Lilith’s brown eyes back to her sister’s concerned face. _‘You okay? You seemed to have gotten lost a bit.’_

Lilith shook her head a bit, “Just thinking about how boned we are.”

Frisk laughed at that. _‘Sans is gonna love you!’_

Lilith frowned. “Yeah, I don’t know if I’m going to love Sans. I think he’s a brat.”

Frisk nodded. _‘Oh, he is. But he’s always looked out for me. Made sure I was safe. Took care of it when…when I was Chara.’_

Lilith’s eyes darkened, “Yeah, and a few times when you weren’t.”

Frisk nodded sadly and handed her sister a piece of the spider donut she had just bought, _‘Don’t be angry at him. He was…not himself. Sans deals with a lot and sometimes when I get the control back from Chara, he has a hard time separating me from them.’_

Lilith rolled her eyes. “That sounds like an excuse.” She popped the donut into her mouth, and a delightful taste fills her mouth. Lilith groans around the treat, and she can feel her magic reserves beginning to fill back up, “Where did you get this! It’s so good!”

‘ _Spider bake sale. All proceeds go to the spiders, so I bought a couple of things.’_

Lilith nodded and brushed the crumbs from her hands. “Too good. But…won’t we need it later?”

Frisk nodded. _‘I’ve bought a couple of donuts. So long as we save one for Muffet, we’ll be fine.’_

Lilith nodded, and weaved her magic a little more into the walls of the ruins. “Okay, cool. But seriously Frisk, what’s your plan here?” Frisk gave her sister a confused look. “Lola or Sloan or even Ryder would have been a better choice than me. Lola is kind hearted like you, Sloan has a silver tongue, she’d be able to talk her way out of anything and Ryder is a people person. I’m a battle mage Frisk, normally when I’m called into things it’s for a fight. Not,” Lilith rolled her hand, looking confused and annoyed, “Not diplomacy. But you don’t want me to hurt anyone. Just…mouth off at them?”  

Frisk scratched her chin with a frown. _‘But. You’re my sister. You’re the one I wanted this whole time, you’re the one I kept hoping would come save me.’_ Frisk paused and huffed softly at Lilith’s frown, _‘I’ve been so afraid for so long, being forced into all these fights. And you’ve always been good in a fight.’_

“Frisk, that’s…” she paused with a sigh, rubbing the spot between her eyes, her soul unwinding just a little bit, “That’s putting it really mildly. I was summoned to war because I am good at _killing_. Not so much the mercy part. The killing part, and I’m very, very good at it.” Her voice was mostly monotone, and she shrugged, “Frisk, bringing me along is like calling in an air strike when a 9mm will do. Do you understand?”

_‘Yet, you only killed when you had to!’_

“Really? Who told you that?”

Frisk hesitated, _‘Felix. He showed me your file.’_ Lilith’s cold eyes flashed down to her little sister with a deepening frown, _‘But you never killed for pleasure, you took captives when you could, and you killed only when necessary.’_

Lilith shook her head, “It was necessary a lot.” The bitterness came out in her usually flat tone.

_‘We were at war, of course it was. But you’re a battle mage Lil and my sister. I needed and wanted you here. Because I know you won’t let anything bad happen to me. Or the others. You’re a fighter, and you’re good and protective. And I love you.’_

That brought a brief smile to her sister’s lips. “I love you too sweets.” Brown eyes glanced down. “When did you get so smart?”

Frisk grinned. _‘This is the underground. I had to grow up quick.’_

Lilith didn’t like that, but it was too late to change it now. She ruffled her sister’s hair, “Okay, we’ve got a little while yet before we get back to Toriel. Let’s practice some saving.”

Frisk groaned but focused on making her magic work none the less.

This would work, Frisk thought to herself. It had to.

She focused hard on her magic, forcing all her determination and magic into her centre and felt warmth fill her. The air around her shimmered and Frisk felt herself make a mark in time or a save.

Frisk beamed up at her battle mage sister, who nodded with satisfaction down at her, “Good. Now to it again.”

Nodding, Frisk forced all her magic into her centre and felt the warmth fill her once more.

They could do it. They could defeat Chara and Flowey and bring everyone to the surface.

Frisk was sure of it. 

*****

Hours later and on the floor of a room that was too small for her, Lilith shifted on the carpet uncomfortably. A plush pillow was under her head, but the carpet still chafed against her skin at her shoulders and at her lower back where her shirt road up.

Frisk had grabbed somethings for them, had shown her the backpack filled with winter gear and that did not bode well with Lilith. She had fought in the cold, and it sucked more then the heat. Give her scorching desert, burning golden sand and a high sun any day. 

Lilith sighed and tried to get comfortable on the ground, watching Frisk asleep in the bed.

They had wandered through the underground until Toriel had found them again, brought them home and made them supper. It was an awkward family style dinner, with stinted conversation as Toriel kept looking at her nervously. Like she was afraid that Lilith was going to lunge over the table and go for her throat.

Lilith was a killer, she acknowledged that fact, but she wasn’t going to go for Toriel for simply existing. Toriel had not given her a reason to feel threatened or needing to defend Frisk. She wasn’t a threat to them, rather the opposite. Toriel was kind, and Lilith wanted to bond with her, a comradery at the very least.

Lilith sighed, tried to wriggle into the course carpet a little deeper. Huffing an annoyed noise, she looked back to Frisk and her little chest raising and falling in deep sleep. She watched her sister sleep a little while longer, a soft contentment filled her soul, mixing with the love she had for her baby sister.

Sitting up, Lilith twisted her head to crack her neck and stretched long to pop her spine.  

She could hear Toriel in the kitchen, the sound of a kettle whistling and the clinking of a tea glass. Glancing once more to Frisk, Lilith muttered “Fuck it.” Under her breath and slowly pushed herself to her feet.

Easing out of the room, Lilith smiled once more at her sleeping sister before padding silently into the kitchen, the hall ways dark with the faux night of the underground. As she drew closer to the kitchen, Lilith let her steps fall heavier, alerting Toriel to her presence.

Toriel had frozen where she was as Lilith came into the room, her hands gripping the kettle tightly over a delicate tea cup, her green eyes wide with fear.

Lilith came to a stop at the edge of the kitchen and swallowed. She forced her shoulders to relax and her hands fall open and _empty_ next to her, doing everything she could to appear smaller to the Queen.

“Toriel.” Lilith nodded politely to the larger monster, hoping she was exuding calmness and peace.

Toriel seemed to catch herself, and Lilith saw her massive frame relax, “Lilith.” She nodded slightly towards the mage, “Would you like some tea?”

She didn’t really like tea, preferring the bitterness of coffee that was sweetened to stupid levels, but she was not thoughtless enough to turn down the peace offer, “Thank you.”  

Toriel nodded as Lilith glided into a seat across from her, accepting the steaming mug of tea with a nod. Even with adding sugar and cream, Lilith winced at the taste but managed to chock it back.

Toriel’s eyes were down, unfocused in thought as he held her cup of tea without drinking from it. Lilith huffed quietly sipping on her tea, struggling with something to say.

“I remember, years ago, someone told me that an angle would come to the underground and would offer salvation.” Dark eyes looked up at Toriel as she spoke softly. “I had always thought they meant to save us, to free us from our prison.” She finally looked up at Lilith with something akin to acceptance, “But as my people fell to fear and hopelessness I have begun to wonder. Perhaps we are not meant to reach the surface. Perhaps we are supposed to suffer and die down here without ever reaching the sun, that would be our penance for the murders we have committed here.”

Lilith paused, her mouth full of tea that made her wince at the taste and she wished for coffee. Forcing it down, she held the tea cup and allowed the warmth to sink into her hands, “Honestly, I think that’s bullshit.”

Toriel looked up at her sharply at her words with shocked, wide eyes, her jaw falling open. Lilith continued when the monster remained silent.

“I mean, with all the horrible things that has happened to your people, that’s a load of shit. No one deserves this, least of all you.” Angry, protective emotions flared through Lilith, feelings from Frisk’s memories imbedded into her own.

Frisk’s fondness, _her love_ , for the monsters of the underground were affecting her own feelings and actions. Frisk had wanted her to bond to the monsters she had grown close to, needed Lilith to _care_ about them.

Lilith forced herself to take another mouthful of tea. Frisk’s actions could be seen as a type of manipulation. A fine play that had Lilith proud of her little sister’s actions, it was a very mage thing to do.

Toriel looked back at her cup, her eyes turning sad, “I had wanted to save them. The others that fell here, but they always leave. Just as you will leave, and you will die just like them.”

Lilith chewed on her inner cheek, “We won’t.” she said slowly, yet firmly, “I have been at war long enough to know how to defend myself, we will be fine.”

Toriel smiled bitterly at her tea, “Then you will have no choice but to kill. It is the only way.”

Lilith huffed, memories of Frisk’s multiple runs through the underground washing over her, how her baby sister had made it through without hurting a single soul. Even Asgore, even when Lilith would have ended his life for her own selfish salvation, Frisk had not. Lilith smiled a little, her sister was leaps and bounds better than her.

“Have hope Toriel. Things have a funny way of working out.” Lilith said softly. “Believe in Frisk, if anything else. She’s…determined.”

Toriel laughed a little, it was a small, bitter noise of a women who had seen so many children die at her ex’s hands. “I can see that she is. Yet, the monsters here are so desperate and afraid. They have become something cruel, something that will kill a child to escape this prison.” Her green eyes glanced around the small kitchen sadly, “What hope can Frisk have?”

“Your people aren’t so lost yet.” Lilith told her, memories of Papyrus holding Frisk’s hand when she was afraid, memories of Sans hugging her tightly after a bad reset. Of Undyne lifting Frisk onto her shoulders while they crossed the river, so Frisk didn’t have to get her pants wet. “I’ve seen the good in them.”

Toriel snorted, “You have seen the ruins. Where the weakest and most frightened monsters live. What kindness could you possibly know if beyond these walls?”

Right, Toriel doesn’t remember the resets. Lilith paused, thumbing her tea cup, “Well. Monsters are made of kindness and mercy, right? I believe that they are more then just desperate creatures.”

Toriel blinked at her and smiled sadly, “Thank you.” She said softly with an almost amused little laugh, “For believing in them.”

The large monster gave herself a little shake and a smile, “So tell me Lilith. You said the mages went to war, what happened?”

The change in subject was blunt and clearly done with purpose. Yet, Lilith smiled patiently and nodded, “Yes. It flared up just after you were locked away and has only just ended. We have only been at peace with the other covens for roughly eighty-four years. Not a long time when the entire population of mages have been at war for almost eight hundred years.”

Lilith shrugged at Toriel’s shocked face, “Wait. That is nearly as long as we have been down here.” Lilith nodded, holding Toriel’s gaze. “Lilith, how old are you?”

A knife-like smile cut through Lilith’s face, “I am three hundred and ninety-five years old. My magic keeps me strong.”

Something akin to pity crossed Toriel’s face, “So you have been at war for the majority of your life then?”

Lilith nodded, abandoning her tea, “Yes. My entire life has either been preparing for war or at war.” She hesitated before adding, “Peace is hard and confusing. War was easy, you knew who the enemies were. But,” she sighed deeply and something like a happy grin crossed the battle mages face, “but I have my Den. My territory is peaceful, and Frisk is healthy. So, we make it work.” 

“How old is Frisk?” Toriel whispered, almost afraid to ask.

Lilith smirked, “Twelve. One of the first children to be born in a time of peace. It’s not until adult hood, when our bodies are at its strongest that we are frozen into maturity by our magic.”

Toriel frowned, furry brows drawing together, “What was such a long war fought over? What could possibly be so important to drag it out?”

Lilith snorted, a broken sound from a soldier, “We simply didn’t want to be exterminated. We felt that it was worth dragging out a horrible war to ensure our freedom and survival.”

Lilith smirked cruelly at Torie’s shocked face, but the former Queen didn’t say anything, so Lilith continued, “You see, not all mages belong to the same Coven. The largest Coven at the time of your people’s incarceration were the ruling class, who put their loyalty with the humans. Out of the eight Covens, only the largest two wanted to go to war with the monsters.”

“The other six, one of the ones my family comes from, were much smaller and we didn’t want war. We had no power, not like them, not at the time. They were the warriors and rulers; we were athletes and farmers. Healers. Even our spell casters were not what they are today. So, we refused to go to war, we didn’t want to fight.”

Lilith snorted, bitter, “We saw that the humans feared us. That their leaders both religious and political, hated us, we saw that once they were done with you, they would turn on us.” There was another deep sigh from the mage, “We were right of course. As soon as the humans locked your people away, they turned on us. Thought that the fact that we could use magic was an abomination, and we should have all been destroyed. The ruling classes, the only warriors at the time went to war and demanded we join them.”

Shaking her head, Lilith looked down into her tea, “My Den mother was a child when she watched your people being locked away beneath the mountain and grew up in a time of war that damaged her ability to use magic. We refused to join, so they took the children from our Covens to force them into war. We fought back and adjusted to war quickly.”

Her head tilted as she told their history to the monster, “The _Durhem_ and the _Kehtor_ families were obsessed with keeping ‘blood lines pure.’” Lilith rolled her eyes and used finger quotes when she said _blood lines pure_. “The smaller Covens didn’t care so much, we had battle mages and spell casters and illusionists mixing together. It bred hybrids and the first real power our Covens had ever had. We discovered quickly that we, the small, were in fact the more powerful. The Durhem and the Kehtor families were spreading themselves too thin, it gave us a chance to get a foot hold. We began to produce warriors in earnest. Our spellcasters became powerful, our wells of magic became deeper, the traits we were breeding into our children were becoming better. Bred with purpose and not just for kicks. Our children became killers, and we were saturated in war.”

She flipped her hand over, the thick black letters of **DEATH** stared back up at her. “We all became what we needed to for the war effort. I became death, my Den mates became the other horsemen of the apocalypse. War, Famine, Pestilence.” Her smile was still bitter and angry, “Our fifth became Pandora, a bit of a dark joke but no less fitting.” Her cold eyes never left her pale wrist, “And we are feared for it, for what we have done. For what we have become. Our reputation alone ended battles sooner or prevented a fight all together. We are still feared among the other Covens, especially what is left of the Durhem’s and the Kehtor’s.”

Lilith shrugged again, and picked up her tea cup, “We all become what we need to.”

Toriel nodded, her frown not so deep and her green eyes filled with understanding, “We do. For what its worth, I am sorry.”

Lilith smiled bitterly, “I’m not. It secured Frisk’s future.”  

Nodding, Toriel sipped her cooling tea, “How did you become Frisk’s guardian? With that age difference, I can’t imagine that would have been an easy transition.”

The smile was twisted and bitter, “When I was young, my mother betrayed our Coven. She believed in the ‘purity’ of blood. She murdered most of our Den before she left, she tried to kill me for my ‘tainted’ blood. My Den mother raised me while my father was away at war and built our Den. When the war was over my mother had another child, Frisk, and was cruel to her. Hurt her. When I found out what was happening, I challenged my mother to be Frisk’s guardian three years ago, but the damage had already been done. I’ve done my best to be a good sister to her.”

Toriel felt her soul clench a little, and she reached out to put a hesitant hand over Lilith’s scared arm, “And I have no doubt that you have done very well with her my child.” Her smile became genuine and kind, “Thank you, for sharing.”

Lilith suddenly squirmed under that kind gaze, adverting her eyes as uncertainty filled her, “I didn’t really share much. Just the barest of history.”

“Perhaps, but it gives me a sense of what is occurring on the surface.” Toriel paused and offered a real smile, “You could, of course stay here.”

Lilith smiled a touch sourly, “We have our Den to get home to. A territory to protect. Frisk needs to go back to school.”

Toriel swallowed and looked sad, “Of course.” She gave Lilith’s arm a little squeeze, “If anyone can see the child back to the surface it will be you. But I implore you, when you choose the _two_ monster souls that you will need to harvest to pass the barrier, choose carefully.”

Lilith’s brows rose a little, uncertain as the memories from how Frisk had been _expected_ to break the barrier filtering through her thoughts.

“Whom ever it is you choose will die, and it will have a ripple effect here in the underground. It will hurt a lot of monsters and will only galvanize the King’s words that humans are all bad. That mages are to be feared, that war is our only option. So please, choose wisely mage.”

Lilith swallowed hard and nodded. She gripped the tea cup a little harder and combed through Frisk’s memories of a good candidate and came up empty. The monsters, made up of kindness and mercy, did no deserve death. Even the King.

Frisk could free the monsters without death, Lilith had seen it. Knew it to be true. She just needed to keep her sister alive, and her tattoo felt heavy on her wrist and the irony of her nickname was not lost on her.

Death, in some form it seemed, would be assisting Frisk through her trip through the underground.

Lilith drank what was left of the tea and sat the cup down, “No one has to die. We’ll fine our way home.”

Toriel smiled patiently at her determined words and didn’t believe a single one.

“Please, just protect Frisk. Do what I could not and keep her safe. At the very least, do that.”

Lilith nodded, some of the sharpness uncoiled from her soul, “That much, I can promise you Toriel.”

Toriel’s smile softened further, and Lilith wondered vaguely if this is what a mother was supposed to be like. Kind and soft. “Thank you, Lilith.” She glanced to the kitchen before asking, “Would you like a slice of pie?”

Accepting the slice, Lilith ate is quietly as delight filled her and a solid home cooked desert filled her senses. Maybe, just maybe, Lilith thought to herself, things would be okay.

Hours later, when she and Frisk were staring down the fire that Toriel wielded, Lilith wasn’t entirely sure how things had gone so sideways.

Even as Lilith dipped and dodged, shoving Frisk one way and another, even when Lilith took a blow from Toriel that made her skin blister and bubble, Lilith wasn’t sure how things had gone _so_ wrong.

Green magic was ice cold around her upper arm where the fire had burned her so badly, the flesh on her arm healing and knitting itself back together rapidly in the middle of battle. The rippled patch of skin adding to the plethora of scars that littered her body.

Even as the pain in her arm ebbed, and Lilith sliced through another volley of fire magic with a thin sword made of magic, Lilith couldn’t help the hurt in her heart despite the ice cold look on her face, her dark eyes focused on the threat, on survival.

Even when Toriel’s heartbroken face was directed towards her, Lilith defend her baby sister, stood between Frisk and any threat. Even as the fire got hotter, grew blue with the heat, Lilith stayed determined to keep Frisk unharmed.

Even when Toriel spared them, an almost laughable fact to Lilith, and sent them on their way, she looked at them with a deep longing that hurt Lilith in ways she didn’t think she could be hurt anymore.

Even when Toriel fled from them without saying good bye to Lilith, after clinging to Frisk desperately, Lilith didn’t understand.

She was almost numb with misunderstand as Frisk handed Lilith her snow boots and snow pants, Lilith just didn’t understand. _Den mates didn’t abandon each other like this!_  

Lilith frowned at the hurt, not understanding why this hurt so much. Toriel didn’t know her, didn’t owe her anything. They weren’t Den mates despite the feelings that were manufactured by Frisk’s memories.

Shoving down the pain as Frisk took her hand, Lilith tried to not let it hurt her as her sister took her through the heavy purple door and into the ice-cold snow.

Yet even then, Lilith just couldn’t understand the hurt.      

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Be Continued...


	4. Sans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lilith and Sans meet for the first time. It does not go as Frisk hoped.

Frowning, Lilith watched as the large doors to their back slammed shut and a she could hear a lock being activated. For a moment, probably longer than they had, Lilith stared at the door a little bit stunned. Hurt filled her soul and she fought to _not_ project the pain she felt.

Had…had Toriel just kicked them out? Just like that, because Frisk had wanted to go home? After they shared their pain?  

Realistically Lilith knew she should have been ready for it, expected it; she had after all seen Frisk’s memories. She knew what was going to happen next.

Yet, she still wasn’t ready for the blow to come and hadn’t expected it to hurt so much. She had…enjoyed Toriel’s company. Her softness and kindness. She reminded Lilith of what Lola used to be like before the war, and she already missed them both.

Pulling her bright yellow winter coat around her tighter, Lilith pushed those feelings down ruthlessly. Those feelings wouldn’t serve her in the comings days and Frisk is what was important, not goat moms with their super yummy pies and big hugs.

Lilith grumbled and yanked on her black and yellow poof ball hat a little harder than necessary and was grateful that Frisk had the foresight to get winter clothing.   

Frisk’s little hand reached up and opened Lilith’s fisted one and squeezed it before letting it go to sign up at her sister, _‘It’s okay Lil. It hurt my feelings too the first time Toriel kicked me out. She’s just seen so much death, so many children that have died here, she just can’t anymore. She knew we have to try and knows we won’t survive.’_

Lilith frowned at her sister, reeling in her anger and hurt, “We will.”

Frisk grinned. _‘We will. I know we will. We won’t have to hurt anyone. We’ll make it.’_

Lilith took a deep breath and nodded. “We need to keep going.”

Frisk nodded and tugged her sister along, down the long path to Snowdin. Lilith followed along slowly, sadly and feeling far too raw after Toriel had kicked them out. It surprised her how quickly Frisk bounced back from the blow while the hurt made her soul fold in on itself.

It didn’t matter.

She shoved her gloved hands into her pockets, head down and followed Frisk’s worried eyes. Lilith waved her off, “I’m fine, let’s just go find Sans. This is where we meet him right?”

Frisk nodded, _‘Almost. You’ll really like him. He’s funny.’_

“I bet he is.” Lilith didn’t understand why she was feeling so raw over this. It wasn’t like Toriel owed her anything, it was just Frisk’s memories of kindness and a motherly figure that were affecting her. Nothing more. Their talk meant nothing.

“Well, my _ears_ are burning.” A deep voice said cheerfully behind them, and Lilith found herself spinning around, dropping into a defensive position with her fists up. Her snow pants and winter coat restricting her movement, and she realized this with a curse, hating that she had chosen comfort over battle readiness.  

Frisk laughed and threw herself at the short skeleton that had appeared behind them. Lilith relaxed when Frisk cuddled into his surprisingly soft frame, gripping at his coat, “Heya kiddo.” The skeleton said quietly, wrapping an arm around Frisk in a tight half hug. He paid no mind to Lilith, and that set her teeth on edge. She was used to people paying attention, giving her a wide berth out of respect or fear, not ignoring her like she didn’t matter.  

It was fine. It _didn’t_ matter, she was here to help Frisk. She didn’t have a reputation here to keep the fighting at bay and she forced herself to relax.  

Looking the little skeleton up and down carefully, Lilith realized that Frisk’s memories of Sans height were a little off, and he _was_ taller then Lilith was expecting. He easily came up to her collar bones rather than her belly like she was thinking he would, and he was a little pudgy, but slimmer then she thought.

In the end it was something about his eyes that made Lilith pause. It’s there only for the briefest of moments, and she almost missed it in her own foolish sulk. An agony so real that she could almost taste it, something that went beyond heartache or hopelessness. It was something so devastatingly heart wrenching that it made Lilith take notice, but it was gone as quickly as it was there. Replaced by half lidded eyes, glowing white annoyance and something that verged on displeasure.

“Sooo. This is you’re sis huh?” his eye lights narrowed a little as he took the other mage in and he pulled Frisk a little tighter to his frame. Frisk’s sister was tall and bundled in thick clothing to keep her warm, Frisk planned ahead. Good kid.

It was her eyes that threw Sans. They were a deep brown, almost black with how dark they were but cold. So very cold, like chips of rocks frozen in the river near Snowdin. There was something wrong with the evil mage, Sans decided to call her. It was the way she moved, how quickly she looked ready to attack, and the iciness of her eyes. It was how she moved like a predator, loose and languid, like a lion just before they pounced.

There was just something wrong with her, and Sans couldn’t quite put a phalange on it. She just seemed…dangerous.  

“I heard you’re the sis that’s gonna fix everything.” Sans said a hint of bitterness, and Frisk looked up at Sans a little confused, not expecting her friend to react with a touch of hostility towards her sister.

Lilith’s own eyes narrowed, knowing that Sans wasn’t supposed to be here yet. That once again her being here was changing things up, making it harder for Frisk, and honestly Lilith could have used the walk to cool off a little. She needed to settle her emotions and LV.

Yet, Lilith was here and still feeling hurt over Toriel with a lump in her chest. She couldn’t help that her eyes narrowed and her teeth bit into the tip of her tongue, and she tasted coppery blood. She tried so hard to keep the hurt from affecting her response. Tried so hard to keep her anger from lashing out at Sans, who really didn’t deserve it.  

Yet, all she could see right now was Sans murdering her beloved little sister when she wasn’t the evil fucking demon. All she could feel was the hurt from Toriel, which seemed to matter a fuck ton, “Apparently,” Lilith said just as bitterly despite her internal voice screaming at her to _don’t say it! Do not fucking say it!_ “But you weren’t gonna fix it.” _Don’t! Don’t! Don’t!_ “Beyond murdering my little sister.”

Frisk’s mouth dropped open and Sans jerked back as though she hit him, his eye lights constricted into pin pricks, and she didn’t need to be near him to feel the _hurt_ wafting from his soul.  

“I mean,” she continued, even as her inner voice shrieked at her to just _stop,_ and Sans’ eyes dilated into nothingness, “Frisk shared her memories. I saw you murder my baby sister in straight up cold blood, so I can’t _imagine_ why she didn’t trust you to fucking save her.” Lilith wasn’t worked up; her voice was smooth and calm despite the words she threw at Sans.  

Sans just stared at her, sweat pricking his forehead and his hands shook. Guilt flooded his soul and something cold pricked at the back of his cervical vertebra, _~~she fucking hates you trash bag~~_ it was whispered so gently into the back of his mind, Sans could only nodded along and agree, “I…uh…” how was the merciful Frisk even related to this evil mage? His soul felt like it was crushing in on itself in hurt and guilt, because he had hurt Frisk in a fit of rage. He had killed her when he hadn’t realized what time line they were in, and he couldn’t find it in himself to forgive his own actions. Evil mage wasn’t wrong, and he knew he deserved those words.

Frisk huffed and pulled herself out of Sans hug, and his stunned face hurt her heart, stomping over to where her sister stood. Frisk gave her sister a withering look, her little face scrunching up in anger and betrayal.  

If Sans doubted that this evil thing before him and Frisk were sisters before, Frisk’s next actions only confirmed it. After giving her taller sister a dirty look, Frisk drove her tiny little fist into the soft back of evil mages knee.

She yelped as her knee buckled and her hands hit the snow, “Really Frisk!”

_‘You said you were going to be nice to him!’_ Frisk’s hands were a flutter of angry movements and a dark look at her sister.

“Who the fuck taught you that move!” Lilith spat, her usually calm voice becoming angry.

_‘Felix did! Thought it would be useful, don’t change the subject. You said you would be nice!’_

Lilith glared, but Frisk didn’t flinch at her sister’s icy glare, “I said I would try.” She spat, magic beginning to bubble up at her fingers, ready to be used.  

_‘Then actually try!’_

Lilith glared before she sighed in annoyance and forced her muscles to relax a little. Her shoulders dropped and she glanced over to where Sans looked like she had just landed a physical blow to him with shocked wide eyes. His small frame tense, his eye lights long gone and the pure _hurt_ that radiated off him cooled the last of Lilith’s anger.

Grumbling under her breath, Lilith pushed herself to stand up wincing when she put weight onto the knee that Frisk had punched. “Fuck,” she cursed, “At least Felix taught you how to hit properly.”

Frisk glared at her, hands going to her hips in an angry manner. Her head jerked towards Sans, and Lilith’s hands went up in surrender. “Okay. Okay. I’ll be nice.”

Frisk huffed and nodded towards Sans with a very pointed look. Lilith frowned at her little sister, dark brown eyes glancing to the little skeleton, who was now looking at the ground and gripping at his own elbow tightly enough to bruise, before glancing away feeling guilty. He really hadn’t deserved that.

_‘Lilith!’_ Frisk stomped her little foot, glaring up at Lilith’s guilty face, glancing to Sans crestfallen one.

“I’m thinking!” Lilith snapped back, arms crossing defensively over her chest, “I just fucking pointed out that he fucking killed you a bunch of times, that’s hard to come back from.” It turned into a grumble and that didn’t impress Frisk in the least bit.

 “I didn’t mean to.” Sans said far too quietly, eye lights down cast, voice oddly serious. His grip on his elbow tightened to the point that it started to hurt, but he didn’t let go. His too soft voice drew those cold, almost black eyes to him, and he took a step back from evil mage.

“How did you not mean to?” she snapped and felt guilty again when Sans hunched into himself. Fuck.

“You saw some of her memories?”

Lilith paused, and nodded slowly. “Some.” And by some, Lilith meant all, but he didn’t need to know.

“I was. Trapped in the last time line.” He tried to explain, thin phalanges digging into his sweater even harder, “That thing, Chara….it killed everything I love, and it wore your sister’s face.” He shrugged and tried to make a weak pun. “You know, it’s really hard to get under my skin, but ya know…” he trailed off, still not looking up at her, he knew he deserved her ire.  

Lilith sucked on her teeth, “That was pretty terrible.” Sans shrugged, still not looking at her.

Glancing to Frisk’s dark look and insistence gestures, Lilith nodded, “Okay.” She took a few, even steps forward and shoved her gloved hand to Sans, “I’m Lilith. Frisk’s older sister. And I…uh…I’m sorry. I’m a tad protective of my little sister. But…like. Frisk says it’s cool, so…” she shrugged awkwardly, feeling her face heat up at her stumbling words and waited for him to make a move. It was hard for her to let go of someone hurting her baby sister, but Frisk said it was okay, so who was Lilith to say otherwise…in this one, very particular incident.   

Sans looked up, looked to her blushing cheeks, adverted eyes and the way she chewed on her inner cheek. She was having just a hard a time as he was, and clearly didn’t know how to deal with forgiveness. A skeletal hand reached back and grasped her hand tightly, and the squeak of a whoopee cushion wheezed loudly between them.

Her eye brows shot up in surprise before they dropped quickly into an unimpressed look, “Really?”

Behind her, Frisk giggled, and the skeleton’s face brightened a fraction, “I like to think of it as a classic.”

Lilith blinked at him and Sans felt himself sweat a little before the older mage well, chuckled. Her cold face broke into the slightest of smiles, and Sans counted that enough of a win to relax.

“Sans,” he introduced himself officially, “Sans the skeleton.”

Her cold grin brightened into the first real smile he had seen from her, “I’m uh…I’m sorry Sans. That was uh…”

Lilith struggled for the word, that Frisk was happily supplied. _‘Cruel? Mean spirited? Unnecessarily spiteful?’_  

Lilith glared at her sister’s amused face, when Sans jumped in “Yeah, you jumped my _bones_ before you even got to know me tibia honest.”

Lilith’s face when bright red and Frisked laughed, “You know jump my bones means something else on the surface right?”

Sans’ widening grin told her that he did, in fact, know _exactly_ what he was saying. Lilith fought to keep from laughing at his words, chewing on her inner cheek.

“Well you said I could get under your skin.” Lilith smirked, but it was sharper then she meant it to be, and she was reminded how hard it was for her to be soft.

Still, Sans smirked a little despite that Lilith made him nervous, “Well how else were you going to find my funny bone?” And Lilith went red again much to Sans amusement. Humans could go the funniest colors, it was hilarious.

Lilith looked down and shoved her hands into her pockets with a small smirk. Frisk smiled and gave a little cough, drawing Lilith and Sans’ eyes to her. Green eyes glanced from her puny little friend to her tall dangerous sister.

Something clicked in Frisk’s head, saw something that neither the battle mage nor the judge saw, and Frisk’s smirked up at them.  

“What’s up kiddo?” Sans asked, his brow furrowing a little and Frisk grinned a little wider. She shrugged and ran back up to Sans and gave him another big hug, cuddling into his side. Sans melted a little and gave her a proper hug. “Aww thanks kid. I’m alright.”

Frisk gave him a little pat on the back and a thumbs up. _‘We should go find Papyrus! Lil, you’re going to love Snowdin, it’s such a cute little town.’_

“Alright kid, let’s go.” Sans nodded down the path, quietly following the younger mage.

Frisk grinned and skipped down the path, feeling lighter than she ever had going into Snowdin. She had her sister and one of her best friends. Everything was going to be alright.

Lilith watched her sister with a smirk before it fell back into the cold neutral expression she unusually wore and followed along. She and Sans fell in step, a little awkward next to each other and their rocky start.

“Sooooo.” Sans said as they watched Frisk throw a snowball at a tree, feeling free and warm, and enjoying the walk though Snowdin for once, “Why doesn’t Frisk talk?”

Lilith looked down at him with a bit of a frown. She opened her mouth, then closed it looking a little confused. She lowered her voice a little, “You know that’s rude, right?”

“Yeah, totally.” Sans whispered back, “That’s why I asked you, I didn’t want to make Frisk feel weird.”

Lilith gave him an odd look, then snorted, “You’re such a jerk.” But she was smiling, and she shrugged. “Frisk and I have the same mom, different dad.” Sans looked up at her, brow furrowing a little bit like he hadn’t expected her to respond.

“My parents split when I was a kid, and my dad…he died not long after.” Lilith looked a little sad at the fact, but she didn’t elaborate beyond it, didn’t mention their mother’s betrayal to the Coven, “Anyways, my mom’s fucking nuts as far as mages goes, and that’s saying a lot. She…did a lot of shitty things to Frisk to ‘make her stronger’” Lilith’s eyes rolled, “Frisk was always strong, just in a different way. She’s strong in…a gentle way.”

Sans nodded, glancing up at the happy little girl they both clearly loved, “Yeah. She really is.”

Lilith nodded, “So. Yeah. Our mom hurt her.” That surprised Sans, and it rankled at his soul. It made him angry, “Our mother ruined her vocal cords in some fucked up experiment to make her powers develop early. It hurts her to talk, so I learned ASL and then taught it to Frisk. I challenged our mother for custody,” magic cackled around her and she quickly tampered it down, not missing the way Sans tensed, and still vaguely wondered if he’d ever get more of the story then that.

Frisk turned around to give her a confused look when she felt magic flare, and Lilith gave her a reassuring wave. Voice smoothing out, Lilith tilted her head down to look at the shorter monster. “Mages, we have a very violent culture.”

Sans snorted, “No kidding.” He sounded bitter again and he kicked at a rock along the path. “Your kind locked us down here to rot.”

Lilith took no insult to that and nodded, “See what I mean?” he looked up at her oddly. “We fucking left an entire people to die under a mountain. That’s fucked up.”

Sans snorted and nodded along, “It’s pretty _ghoulish_ of you lot.”

Lilith huffed, it could have almost been a laugh and nodded, “I’m not surprised that you…um. Have a bone to pick with us.”

Sans laughed at that and nudge her with an elbow. “Heh. That was a little better.”

Giving him a smirk that was sharp as a knife, Lilith nudged him back in a surprisingly friendly way, “Well. It was magical combat, non-lethal.”  

Sans’ head snapped up at her, a little shocked, “Wait what? For real?”

Lilith nodded, her features becoming sharper and predatory, “I beat her down hard.”  Before her face contorted into a sad look, “If I had acted sooner, then maybe I could have saved Frisk from the pain she faced.”

Sans took a breath, his ribs moving with the motion as he watched Frisk, “I get it. The need to protect your sister. I would do anything to protect my brother.”

“I know you would.” Lilith told him with certainty, and she tapped her temple. “I can respect that.”

Sans grinned that never-ending smirk at her, “So, what about you? Frisk pushed hard to bring you down into hell. What makes you so special?”

Lilith snorted, “I’m not special.” She wasn’t. She wouldn’t call herself special, she just happened to be good at fighting and killing, “I’m her sister and she wanted me here.  I’m a battle mage, we’re a dime a dozen on the surface. We all maybe a little bit different in terms of _how_ we use our magic, but still nothing special.”

Sans felt his eye lights constrict again and his grin fell a little bit, “What’s a battle mage?”

Dark eyes glanced down at him and Lilith frowned, “My magic is rooted in my body’s manna lines, more physical than the spell casters. I specialize in hand to hand combat. It makes me naturally stronger, run faster, increased endurance and durability. I was born with the healing trait but it’ll leave some pretty gnarly scares.” She paused and grinned. “I can run up walls with the right gravity spell and when my adrenaline is high enough, I can teleport short distances, but only as far as my line of sight. So that’s pretty cool.” Her grin fell when Sans didn’t grin back, “So. I’m shit at spells, but…I can fight.”

“Sooo,” he said after a long moment of silence. “You’re a fighter? Like the ones that pushed us down here?” his voice was softer, a little colder.

Lilith sighed and hunched a little more into her coat. She didn’t understand why these monsters made her feel ashamed of what she was, “Yeah. Like them.”

“Huh.” Sans was quiet again, watching as Frisk laughed and skipped down the path, unable to see Frisk in the same light as the monsters that had locked them away, “Why can’t you teleport unless your adrenaline is high?”

Lilith shrugged, “It’s a complicated spell and it takes a lot of magic. Gotta really push hard for it, gotta have a lot of determination to force your body to become smoke and reappear in a different position on a battle field.”

Sans looked up at her briefly and gave a non-committal noise and shoved his own hands into his pockets.

Frisk looked back at her sister and Sans, frowning when she saw that they were still being awkward and quiet around each other. Neither would look at the other, and Lilith looked like she was trying to curl up in her jacket while Sans looked scared.

Scrunching her face up in annoyance, Frisk crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes on her feet. She had wanted Sans and Lilith to get along and knew that they _would_ if they would just build the damn bridge and get over whatever was bothering them. Frisk knew that Lilith was a bit under socialized and awkward, and she had a hard time making friends for a battle mage.

Yet, so was Sans. Even Frisk could tell that his puns and jokes were a defense mechanism, a way to deflect when he was feeling badly about himself or a situation. They should get along!

Well, she thought to herself, they were almost to the conveniently shaped lamp and would be meeting Papyrus soon. _He_ would help smooth things over with Lilith, and would help Sans make great friends with her, Frisk was sure of it.          

A small monster, Snowdrake, tripped over a branch and stumbled into Frisk’s path. The small human paused and frowned. He wasn’t supposed to be here yet. She wasn’t supposed to meet any other monsters until after the lamp.

Snowdrake blinked at her, Frisk blinked back, and the small ice monster let out a startled cry and a battle initiated.

Frisk’s soul popped out of her chest, and from down the pathway Lilith froze when she saw her baby sister’s soul exposed to a monster.

Her hand shot out and grabbed tightly to Sans coat to ground herself, her eyes wide with fear and her own soul popped from her chest in preparation for battle. It was bright red like Frisk’s, shone like a star but had thin scars crisscrossed over it.

Sans flinched when he was grabbed but forced himself to relax when he felt Lilith’s hand shake. She was afraid for Frisk that was all. Nothing to be afraid of. He felt his skull heat at seeing her scared soul, forcing himself to look back to Frisk and Snowdrake and not how brightly she shone.  

Frowning, Sans’s head tilted a little, “Huh,” Lilith looked down to Sans, her eyes wide and the cold melted a little in favor of uncertainty for her baby sister, “We don’t usually meet Snowdrake here. It’s usually a little way away.”

Lilith frowned, “Must be me. I’m not supposed to-“Lilith cut herself off as Snowdrake attacked, the  half crescents attacking her baby sister in a flurry of movements. Screaming her sister’s name, Lilith disappeared in a pool of red smoke, reappearing only a few feet away to snatch her sister out of harm’s way, dodging the very slow attacks from Snowdrake.

Frisk was jerked one way, then another, and Lilith very seriously considered using a weapon to keep her sister from harm’s way.

Yet, Frisk shook her sister off as Snowdrake’s attacks slowed, shooing her away, _‘I’m fine. It’s just Snowdrake, I don’t need your help here.’_

Blinking in confusion, Lilith looked to the odd little ice bird and then to her sister, “That vitamin D deficient Muppet just fucking attacked you!” Sans chortled despite himself, “And you want me to stand aside! While you fight him? YOU! My little sister, with no fucking combat training.”

Frisk nodded, _‘Exactly. It’s Snowdrake. This will be sNOw problem.”_

Sans laughed harder, “Oh man, your sister is better at this then you are.”

Lilith sighed and flipped him off, never taking her eyes from her sister, “Really?”

Frisk nodded again and shooed her sister away. With dropping shoulders, Lilith worried at her bottle lip, and her soul protested at the thought, “Okay. But if he hurts you, all bets are off.” She managed to ground out.

Frisk smiled and gave her sister a thumbs up. Lilith took a step back from Frisk, then another and another until she was standing with Sans again. The monster laughed quietly at the taller mage’s anxiety and over the top arm movements when Frisk went back to fighting with Snowdrake.

Lilith would flinch towards to sister as though to intervene, would throw her hands up into the air before burring her face into her hands with a groan of displeasure when Frisk almost got hurt, and she would mutter little instructions like ‘left! Go left!’ every time Frisk would get close to an attack.

Sometimes, she would just shout.

“FUCKING DUCK!” And Frisk would drop to her knees to avoid an attack, but otherwise Lilith did as her sister asked and stayed out of it.

It was during this time, with the palms of Lilith’s hands pressing into her eyes as she groaned about her sister in a fight that Sans got curious. Lilith said he was a fighter, and Frisk was so sure that Lilith could help.

If Lilith was like those mages that trapped them all down here, what else could she do? Was she dangerous? Did she have any LoVe?

He was the judge, and Sans _had_ to know.

Discretely, he summoned Lilith’s stats to see, just how much of a battle mage she was. 

Sans felt himself freeze when he saw her LV. He felt himself go cold at the sight of it and his soul twisted with betrayal.  

_Lilith: Battle Mage_

_LV: 19_

_HP: 3200_

_AT: 90_

_DF: 90_

_Will fuck your shit up._

She was a fucking murderer, and he was just starting to like her.

His hands shook with fear and sweat gathered on his forehead. How many times had she killed to get such a high LV? What sort of intent did she have to get that sort of LoVe? She must have _wanted_ to hurt people.

That sort of power could decimate the underground and everything Sans loved. He’d seen it before, and he had barley been able to stop it when it had been in the hands of an untrained child. Lilith was an adult. A fully trained, very dangerous adult.   

His eye lights faded as he grit his teeth just as Frisk gave Snowdrake a hug.

Lilith sighed and shifted her weight to one hip, crossing her arms as she instantly relaxed now that Frisk was safe, “This is the weirdest fucking place. They want to fight, but they don’t?” her frown deepened “You should have let me help!”  

Frisk turned to her sister as Snowdrake ran off, her little brow furrowing when their souls didn’t return to their chests. _‘They’re afraid Lil. That’s all. They’re desperate and afraid and…’_ Frisk hands stilled as her eyes fell to Sans. _‘Sans?’_

Lilith’s own browns furrowed, and she turned to the smaller form at her side, her mouth pulling into a deep frown at his lack of eye lights and gritting teeth, “You okay Sans?”  

Her soul suddenly turned blue and Lilith’s brows shot up in shock. “What the…”

“W H Y I S Y O U R L V S O H I G H ?” his voice was cold and hard and so full of malice that it made Frisk back up. He only ever sounded like that towards Chara.  

Lilith’s eyes widened further, “You fucking checked me! Rud-“she was cut off as Sans suddenly flung her away, drawing a strangled cry from Frisk as her sister slammed through a tree.

_‘Sans! Wait! Let us explain!’_ Frisk desperately signed to him, and Sans growled at her, his left eye suddenly lit in gold and cyan. Betrayal and hurt washed off him in thick waves as though it were something practically tangible.  

“You brought a killer here!” he hissed at Frisk as he threw Lilith across the path and into another tree, betrayal filling his soul. He heard something pop and she gave a strangled cry of pain, “Why would you do that!”

Frisk gave a little sob, her hands shaking. _‘Sans please! Lilith isn’t a murder! You don’t understand, just let us …’_

“What? Explain what! How she has gotten such a high LV?” he glanced to the fallen mage as she pushed herself up with a groan, her left arm hanging at an odd angle and blood tricked from her mouth, and Sans felt a tangle of fear and rage and panic bubble from his battered soul, “How could you bring _that_ here.”

Frisk sobbed as Sans moved to throw Lilith again, but was jerked back by the determination and magic suddenly filling Lilith. His head snapped back to glare at her, to see how that was even possible and he hissed when he saw her.

Lilith’s dark eyes were filled with red and her crimson magic crackled around her as she prepared for battle. Under her feet were thin disks of magic, ancient ruins floating among the magic and Sans recognized them from old battles. A gravity spell, it would allow her to walk up anything as though it were the ground or keep her in place when he tried to throw her around.

Sans hissed at her as she smirked, “That’s an old trick.” Lilith said as she slowly stood tall, her left arm still hanging low and awkward. She spat a clot of dark red blood into the snow, staining the soft material a deep crimson. She peeled off her winter coat letting it drop into the snow, and Sans could see the purple bruise forming from where the joint had been popped out. He couldn’t bring himself to care, not with the fear that knotted in his non-excitant gut. Lilith took a deep breath and rolled her right shoulder as though gearing up for a fight.

Green magic suddenly swirled around her left shoulder, and the limb was suddenly hitched up by invisible hands and slammed back into where it belonged with a gut churning pop. Lilith breathed through the pain and rolled her left shoulder as the green magic moved down her body, leaving the dark bruising spotting across her shoulder.

The magic congregated around her ribs and she sucked in air as one by one her broken ribs were shoved back into place and knitted themselves back together before the green magic dissipated. Lilith’s head twisted left, then right, popping the vertebra in her neck. At least the damage was internal, and the battle mage healing trait that allowed her to heal rapidly won’t leave scars for something like this. Her organs and joints would continue to function with perfection despite the bruising left behind.    

“That was a shitty thing to do.” She took a step forward, boots crunching into the snow and her breath hanging in the air in short puffs. Lilith was feeling hurt and raw, first Toriel had abandoned them and now Sans was targeting her. Frisk’s affection made her soul hurt and betray rankle though her heart. Enough was enough, she wouldn’t tolerate this crap back home and she sure as hell wasn’t going to tolerate it down here.

Lilith took another step forward as Sans took a step back. His eyes were carefully blank and full of as much hate as someone made of mercy and compassion could hate, “And it’s rude to check someone else when you’re not in battle.”

Suddenly his own stats snapped up and he glared.

_Sans: The Skeleton_

_LV: 1_

_HP: 1_

_AT: 1_

_DF: 1_

_A puny little skeleton._

Lilith sneered. “Liar.” She then did a complicated wrist movement and Sans flinched as his _real_ stats appeared. How did….

_Sans: The Judge_

_LV: 10_

_HP: 1_

_AT: 60_

_DF: 40_

_You will be judged. Harshly._

How did she do that…

Lilith’s dark red eyes glared at him, “Hypocrite.” She hissed at him and despite her anger she wondered why his stats were _so_ low. She pushed that thought away, “Your level of violence is just as high as mine.”

Sans flinched at the words, but anger made him step forward. Frisk tried to wave them both down, tears running down her little face, _‘Please stop!’_

Lilith lifted her hands to her face as red magic gathered in them. She pressed her hands to her face and slowly moved them up towards the crown of her head. As they moved, dark smudges appeared under Lilith’s eyes and her lips became blood red. Her hands moved over her head and down to her shoulders, and her hair folded itself into a braid.

Her hands moved lower and her cloths rippled and changed; her sleeveless shirt became a metal chest plate made for battle, thick pointed spikes spiraled upwards along the centre of her back, like a spine of an ancient animal. Her snow pants melted into her jeans underneath, becoming stretchy so she could move easily, and her winter boots became longer, thinner and leather, stopping at her knees. Fingerless metal gauntlets covered her hands and lower arms, a thick metal collar wrapped loosely around her neck to protect her throat and a heavy metal pauldrin with thick spikes formed over her right shoulder. A blood red sash wrapped around her middle, between her pants and breastplate, the end hanging off her hip like a scarf. The armor settled around her easily and she settled into it on like she was born into it, and Sans shuttered at a mage in armor. He had never seen one in person, but he had heard enough stories.

Without the sleeves of her jacket, and only leather bonding the gauntlets to her arms, he could see the tattoo in thick black letters that read **D E A T H.** It made Sans shutter and he fought with himself to keep his slippered feet planted into the snow.   

Sans managed to smirk at her, and it was as cruel as any monster could make it, “And yet, yours is still higher.”

He flung bones at her suddenly and quickly, ignoring Frisk’s startled cry and the world seemed to slow down. Lilith’s red eyes narrowed, and her left hand reached to her left hip while her right reached over her right shoulder to grasp at glittering half formed magic.  When she flicked her hands away from her torso, two long red swords made of magic appeared as though she pulled them from their hilts, and she cut the bones neatly in half.

Sans glared and time seemed to speed up again as the two halves of his attack went spinning wildly to either side of her. Lilith smirked and it rankled his very soul.

Sans snapped his fingers and a Gaster Blaster appeared over his shoulder and the smirk fell from Lilith’s face. The blaster whined and fired, pure power and magic flying at her, but Sans didn’t feel the satisfaction he thought he would at her demise.

She was, however, faster than Chara and dodged the attack if only barely, flinging herself out of the way of the magic and against another gravity disk. Using that as a spring board and powering it with magic, she lunged at Sans, swords coming down at him with precision and strength.

Sans dodged and threw another bone that was simply cut in half. Shit.

Lilith was a much better fighter then Chara, had clearly been doing this for much longer and had far superior training. Unlike Chara, who attacked with sloppy movements and simply just tried to hack and slash, Lilith’s attacks were well timed and planned.

She would attack with perfectly aimed swings with her swords, and if he got too close her swords would dissolve and form firmly around her fists. She would dodge and take a swing at him, missing by only a hair. Anything she hit, rock or a tree, would explode on contact, sending debris at him before the swords were back and he was trying to move faster.

When she attacked, he dodged and she anticipated the movement and had another attack ready, usually magic that would force him to dodge again. Lilith threw magic at him, taking the shape of thin daggers, tossing one at him for each bone he threw at her. Unlike with Chara, this battle was a one-sided dance that Sans suddenly knew he would never win. Not against a trained killer, and fear ate away at him. She was stronger, faster, better prepared and had superior weapons.

He dodged, she attacked, getting close with a dark smirk before he would dance away again. She was always on his heels with a swing of a sword or a bone crunching punch, always _just missing_ him. Always a hairs breath from hitting and killing him.

It took him longer then he wanted to admit that she was toying with him, and he lived only because she allowed it for her amusement. 

He was going to die, and betrayal bubbled. He tried to focus his intent to hurt her, but found it hard when his soul pulsed with despair and fear. 

 Why would Frisk bring this person here?

The thought of Papyrus and what this creature would do to him and his trusting nature distracted him. It made his attacks sloppy and ill timed.

Pain filled his chest and he didn’t think he could feel anymore agony. This thing was going to kill his brother, and he wouldn’t be able to stop her.

Sans dodged again, felt his foot get caught up in his slipper as a blood red knife shot passed him and he stumbled. Lilith pounced, and Sans braced for the pain of her blade.

Instead, the blades dissolved while her magic settled along her forearms and she shoved him hard into the snow and onto his back. Lilith landed on top of him, her hips digging down into his, her leather boots pinning his legs at his knees and her hands caught his wrists and pinned them next to his head.

Their souls brushed and Sans flinched away at the closeness of it, he could feel her determination and confusion thumbing through her bright soul, but there was no intent to hurt. Lilith frowned when he closed his eyes, body tense and she could feel hurt, betrayal and depression pour from him. Their souls brushed again, and Lilith could feel it tenfold, and the self-hatred just beneath.

Lilith let her shoulders drop with a sigh of frustration, but she didn’t dare release him, not yet. Frisk was sobbing just beyond them, and as much as she wanted to reassure her sister, she needed to ensure Sans was no longer a threat.

“What. The. Fuck.” She hissed but it lacked the heat from before. Sans curled as much as he could into his jacket, eyes still jammed shut. His body trembled beneath her and Lilith could feel fear creep into his soul, could feel his soul accept that he was going to die, and he was afraid.

He was afraid of her, and her high LV that she controlled so carefully.

Lilith sighed again and softened her voice. “Sans. Sans look at me.” He jammed his eyes impossibly tighter and Lilith grimaced at the pain she could feel from him.  She tried to ignore the tears that were gathering at the corner of his eyes, “Sans, I’m not going to hurt you, just wanna talk.”

He managed a sneer, but it was shaky, “Why’s it so high then?” he whispered back, still refusing to look at her, the trembling getting worse.

Lilith frowned down at him and irritation flickered through her, “Alright.” She muttered. “If you really want to know.”

Sans’ eyes snapped open as she shoved his hands above his head, suddenly pinning both wrists into the snow with only one hand and the tears that he tried to stop slid down his face. Sans shuttered when he felt the power in her body, felt an adult human above him made from iron, star dust and concentrated force of will.

Magic and dust were nothing to that.

She brought her free hand to her mouth, doing an odd, delicate twist with her wrist and fingers, whispering, “Memory, memory, come to my need. The day of blood, vengeance and greed. Show me the day my coven’s blood spilled on a battle field of green.  Show me the death wrought by war and the body count that was far too high. Show me the price of war.” Her hand glowed a soft blue with the spell and she looked down at the monster pinned beneath her.

Taking a breath and steeling herself, Lilith pressed the pads of her fingers to his temple.

Sans fell into a black hole and into a memory.

_Suddenly he was made of flesh and blood, was suddenly tall and had a body packed with hard muscle. It was so weird, he felt oddly heavy…in a way? Denser maybe. He was heavily armored; the thick heavy pauldrons over his shoulders were riddled with spikes and covered in blood, his collar armor was heavy, and his helmet felt hot and sticky. Blood was stuck to the side of his head and hair was plastered against the skin of his skull. So odd. He was well-armed; two swords were held loosely in his hands and he knew how to use them._

_He frowned deeply and looked below at the battle field. His shoulder ached and his ribs were certainly broken, but determination filled him and he knew he couldn’t stop._

_A woman,_ Sloan _the memory supplied, slid up beside him, she was limping and looked angry. A section of curly hair had fallen from the leather band that was pulling it back, and she kept trying to pull it back to get the locks out of her face but finding it difficult with her helmet tucked under her arm. Her blue magic and her patient soul pulsed with annoyance._

_“How’s your knee?” Sans felt his voice was higher and vibrated from low in his throat._

_Sloan shrugged as she looked over the edge and looked down at the bloodshed below. “It’s functional. How’s your ribs?”_

_“Hurts, but the pain reminds me I’m not dead yet.” And Sans ribs did burn. He felt himself relax into the pain and felt the healing magic tugging at his ribs to pull them back into place. It hurt, stars on fire it hurt, but he breathed through it like he had been taught._

_Sloan nodded, her look hardening and Sans looked to her blood splattered face and hands. He felt a pang of relief that Sloan was alive and mostly well and not among the dead. “Lola?” his not-voice trembled with fear of that information._

_Sloan’s dark look softened, “Alive. She’s coming, there was just someone who needed healing.”_

_The relief doubled, “And the boys?”_

_Sloan’s face fell. “Don’t know. I haven’t seen them in a while. But…” her dark eyes scanned the battle field and she wiped the blood from her rich brown cheek, “But they’re tough. I have no doubt that they are fine and looking for us._

_Sans nodded and began to gather magic again in his muscles, steeling himself and preparing for battle._

_Soft cursing came from his left in a language he had never heard,_ Mandarin _the memory supplied, and he didn’t jump as another mage stopped beside him. He expected, hoped, she would be there._

_He turned to look at her and the green magic that surrounded her, “Are you okay Lola?” he asked her, and Lola turned to him. Her eyes pulsing with green magic, her kindness soul shimmering with grief at the war below them._

_Lola is smaller than the body he was currently in and smaller then Sloan, coming only to their shoulders. Blood was splattered all along her warm beige skin and chunks of something fleshy were stuck in her glossy black hair, and she seemed pale in distress, washing out her beauty and rich warm undertones._

_She licked her lips. “I…I saved that young mage.” Her voice was shaky and sad, like she was on the verge of tears._

_“That’s good.” Sans told her, and he truly felt the relief wash through him. Lola was alive. Sloan was alive. They were just looking for two more Den mates,_ a Den _\- a smaller group comprised of members from the same Coven._ A Coven _, a large grouping of mages and made up of many Dens – the memory helpfully supplies._

_“How many have died today?” she asked softly, tears filling her eyes._

_It was Sloan who answered angrily, “Too many of us and not enough of them!”_

_Rage, Sans had never felt such a negative emotion before and he shuttered at the power of it, flowed through him at the truth of it._

_“Lola, maybe you should stay here. I think you’ve had enough.” Sans told her and he reached out to link their pinkies together._

_Lola wiped her eyes with her other hand, but her pink squeeze back at Sans’._

_“Lilith,” Lola managed to hiss, “I’m not sending you and Sloan into a war without me. I’m coming with you.”_

_Sans…no he was living Lilith’s memory, smiled back at her. “Stay close to Sloan and me. We’ll work together, okay?”_

_Lola sniffed and nodded. From across Lilith, Sloan’s grin became impossibly dark, “Do not worry little sister. We will protect you.”_

_A small smile managed to tip up at the corners of Lola’s mouth, “And I you.”_

_The three mages took a breath, and Lola and Lilith unlinked their pinkies while Sloan slipped her helmet back on. Lola took a shaky breath and did the same, and only then did the three of them turned back to the edge of the cliff and allowed themselves to fall. They landed lightly below, as thought they had stepped off a curb and not from some great height and into the thick of battle._

_Sans…Sans felt sick of it all. He watched as a helpless passenger through Lilith’s eyes as they fought and killed and were covered in blood and guts and gore. He watched as the gore got stuck in their armor and squished horribly against his skin from where it seeped into the seams.  He watched as mage after mage tried to kill the three of them and their coven and die at their hands, felt their exhaustion as the battle wore on. Yet, they persisted._

_He watched them defend each other and their Coven mates and had no idea how they told the difference._

_He watched as Sloan’s magic formed claws around her hands, and as she smiled that breath taking smile, Lilith could feel the expression in her magic as she ripped the heart from another mage’s chest. He fell as she tossed the still beating organ at another enemy, watched as the organ became a weapon of her magic and exploded on impact._

_He watched Lola throw up shield after shield around her sisters and Coven mates, watched as she crushed an enemy between a shield and a rock. Felt shock flood her magic at the blood thirsty action and felt Lilith’s pain at feeling her Coven mate’s pain, only for Lola to do it again in a desperate attempt to protect her loved ones._

_He watched through Lilith’s eyes as she cut a bloody path through their enemies, her swords coming down with accuracy and control.  She didn’t falter once. In fact, she got faster and stronger, her movements becoming more fluid like, like some sort of horrible dance. She cut a bloody path through the battle field, leaving behind a carnage that Sans had never experienced. She left death and grief in her wake, and not once did she feel remorse._

_He watched as she saved one of the younger mages from her Coven and take the head of the women that tried to kill him. He watched as an enemy broke the back and shattered the purple soul of a mage who looked no older then Frisk and felt Lilith’s guilt at the fact, she had not been able to save her._

_On and on it went. Blood was everywhere, and the memory seemed to go on for hours and Sans felt Lilith go numb to the killing. Numb even to her own pain. Sans felt sick, so very sick at everything he was seeing._

_As the sun began to rise, the battle waned with Lilith standing on the cliff side once again with Sloan and Lola. Somewhere along the way he knew that Felix and Ryder,_ the boys _¸ where alive and that filed Lilith with relief and determination._

_Yet, their dead were gathered in a nice, neat row and Lilith kept starting at the glassy eyes of a young girl who didn’t make it. Sans could feel her eyes flick to where the bottom half of her body should be and feeling sick at the bloody mess that was there instead. She had been an archer, not a battle mage and she did not have the healing trait that would have snatched her away from death even with such a grievous injury._

_Lilith finally looked away._

_“We lost so many.” Lola said gently._

_Sloan sneered, and she sounded bitter, “They lost more.”_

_Lilith didn’t feel anything to either of those statements. She looked down the other way, down the hill and to the sleepy little village below.  The sun was just beginning to rise, and golden rays of light were stretching over the roof tops._

_“We saved the village.” Lilith said in a soft but emotionless voice._

_She should be feeling something, why wasn’t she feeling something?_

_The thought started Sans, that thought had been from her._

_The other two mages looked down at the little village and smiled. Sloan opened her mouth to say something,_ but Sans was pulled from the memory abruptly. He was suddenly laying in the snow again, panting hard and pain radiated though his whole body.

Lilith was still above him, but she wasn’t pinning him down anymore. She was panting just as hard and seemed to be trying to hold herself above him as to not crush him under her weight. Her head was low, near his shoulder as her body shivered. He could touch her if he wanted to.

He was shaking too. A tremble that shot right through to his soul.  

“Fuck.” She hissed through gritted teeth, she had released his wrists and her forearms dug into the ice-cold snow. “Shit!” she grimaced.

Sans continued to shake beneath her, his hands were still above his head and he was afraid to move them. He blinked once, then twice and his eye lights returned, “You were in a war.” He muttered.

Lilith nodded, her head swimming from using a spell she wasn’t accustomed to using. She suffered with spells like that, “Yeah. A long one. A very long one.” She needed more practice with Sloan.  

She huffed trying to get her breathing back under control, and Sans felt her warm breath on his clavicle. He tried to suppress the shutter he felt run down his spine at the pleasant feeling. That…that confused him, and Sans shoved the feeling away ruthlessly.  

Lilith finally shoved herself up and off him, collapsing beside of him and hugging her ribs. “I forgot I broke all my ribs a couple of time in that battle.” She told Sans suddenly, “You’ll probably feel the phantom pain for a few minutes, it’ll pass.” She winced a little, but managed to relax, “I was young, my healing trait wasn’t as good as it is now.”

He moved slowly and sure enough his ribs had the same burning ache that Lilith seemed to be feeling as well. He wrapped his arms around his middle and pulled his legs to his chest, and he felt the tears in his eyes again. That memory had been…

Brutal. Vicious. Bloody. Everything that he had been warned about mages, and he felt himself feeling off from it. Feeling raw and unsteady. That was just some nightmare fuel to add to his growing list.  

Lilith looked up and gasped. “Oh Frisk! Sweets I’m so sorry!”

Sans managed to lift his head as well to look at the kid, she was clutching her sister’s coat tightly to her chest and openly sobbing. Her bright green eyes flickered to her sister and then to him, and Sans felt shame fill his soul. He should have waited, let them explain. Lilith was a veteran of some sort of horrible war among mages so of course she was going to have a high LV. Sans knew a few other veterans, like Grillby, and knew the flame elemental had a high LV too.

Grillby…Grillby hadn’t ever hurt anyone outside of battle, kept careful control of his LV. He…he shouldn’t have assumed that Lilith would have hurt someone, especially since she had Frisk vouching for her.

Frisk’s sobbing brought more shame to his soul and Sans felt like the worse friend in the world. He watched as the little girl – _her glassy eyes stared empty up at the sky-_ he shook the memory away as Frisk threw herself at her sister, gripping desperately to Lilith.

Lilith’s arm folded around her sister in a tight hug and the younger mage clung to her sister just as tightly. Sans watched them hold each other, Frisk sobbing and Lilith gently consoling and apologizing, and he felt a pang of something akin to grief.

His stupidity had done that, and he was even stupider to want the same comfort that Lilith gave to Frisk. He didn’t deserve that comfort and he didn’t deserve Frisk’s friendship. He was just a fuck up, nothing more. He couldn’t even stabilize the time lines, couldn’t stop Chara from resetting, and couldn’t even do something as simple as not try to kill a mage. He deserved the pain and misery given to him by life, he deserved every moment of it.   

“I’m sorry.” His voice is weak and watery, and it made the two mages look at him.

Sans pulled his legs tighter to his chest and buried his face into his knees. He couldn’t bare Frisk’s anger right now, or Lilith’s.

Instead Frisk poked at her sister’s side, still sniffling and tears poured down her cheeks, and nodded to Sans, looking broken. Lilith sighed, cursed under her breath and nodded, seeming to understand what her sister wanted or needed. She took her jacket back from Frisk and pulled it on with a wince, her bruised muscles pulling painfully, and shifted her legs apart so that Frisk pressed into one side of her frame, sitting on her thigh.

Once Frisk was settled and her jacket on, Lilith reached over and grabbed the back of Sans’ coat and dragged him towards them with a grunt of effort.

Sans made an embarrassing squeak as Lilith lifted him up by the center of his coat and yanked him over her thigh. He was settled on Lilith’s thigh before he even knew what happened; his own legs where stretched out in front of him and over Lilith’s other leg and near Frisk, and where she sat against her sister.

He was suddenly pulled tight against her body like Frisk was, his shoulder and side body drawn flush against her stomach and chest with her arm wrapped around him in a tight hug and Lilith’s cheek settled against the top of his skull. One of Frisk’s little hands reached out to grab his wrist while the other clung to her sister’s armor.

Just like that, he was dragged into the sister’s comfort and he tried to look up at Lilith with shocked eyes, his eye lights constricted into tiny pin pricks of light.

“It’s okay.” Lilith said above him, and he could feel her jaw moving against his skull. “All my friends have tried to kill me at some point or another. It’s par for the course.”

Frisk snorted at that, and Sans could practically feel the _you’ve no idea_ that her hands were itching to sign, but she continued to cling to Lilith.

“Even Sloan?” he asked miserably, and Lilith laughed, drawing a confused look form the skeleton.  

“Especially Sloan. We’re brutal when we spar with each other.”

Frisk nodded in agreement and snuggled in closer to her sister, and Lilith pulled them both in tighter. “Besides,” Lilith said eventually. “You were afraid. We should have told you why my LV is so high. Wouldn’t have scared the crap out of you if we had.”

Sans shivered and glanced to Frisk and her smiling face. The tears had stopped, and she didn’t look so sad any more, she looked determined. Sans felt worse than ever and ducked his head into his chest.

Frisk frowned. Nope, not having any of that. Lilith and Sans were going to get along, so help her.

Looking up at her sister, Frisk signed ‘ _I’m cold.’_

Then moved to sit on her sister’s other thigh and press into Sans’s other side, effectively pinning him to her sister. Lilith nodded and lifted the arm that was no longer holding Frisk above their heads and circled round them, muttering under her breath.

When it came back down, it landed around both Frisk and Sans, holding the pair to her tightly. The air around them shimmered and began to warm. Frisk smiled up at her sister, wiping the rest of her tears away and snuggled into Sans.

He didn’t know why he did it, or why these two women were _so_ kind to someone like him and after what he did, but the kindness made the tears well again, and made him sob. His shoulders bunched up as the fear and stress bubbled up, and he was so embarrassed to do it, but he just couldn’t stop it from happening.

He sobbed hard into Lilith’s side, his phalange clinging to her almost desperately in way that made him ashamed. He had just met her! What was he doing!

Still, all the negative emotions boiled hard in his chest with no place to go, and Sans sobbed for all his worth. He trembled, the memories of death and gore struck fear deep in his soul, so much horror and he couldn’t understand how Lilith was even half way normal. He could remember the feeling of someone’s bones breaking under his hands. What it felt like if he were to rip someone’s insides out, have their soft organs in his hands. What blood spatter from an arterial bleed felt like against his face, and what that tasted like.   

He sobbed harder and he shook so hard with fear. The air around them warmed from the spell, and Sans knew that it cost Lilith a lot of magic to do spells like that. Knew that Sloan, _a spell caster,_ had taught her several basic spells that Lilith had to work hard at to do.

If it wasn’t battle magic, it didn’t come naturally to Lilith. He knew that because of that horrible, stress inducing memory.

Fat tears rolled down his cheeks and onto Lilith’s chest plate, and he felt Frisk rubbing his back in soothing, even pets along his spine. Lilith hugged him tighter, her frame warm and solid and safe. She kept whispering to him that he was safe, and it was okay, that she would protect him. She wasn’t mad that he reacted, and neither was Frisk, they knew he was scared, and it was okay.

He shivered and sobbed, years’ worth of pent up stress came pouring out with his shame and guilt. The thought _I barely know her!_ Was pushed aside in favor of the comfort that was being given freely, and it was something he needed desperately.

The emotional strain built high and hard, and finally his body gave out, unable to keep up. Sans eyes slid shut, and he continued to hiccup softly as he passed out on the mage he had just tried to kill. Still Lilith and Frisk clung on and held him until they were sure he was out completely and limp against them.

Lilith made a little noise of discomfort once Sans was still, his breathing evening out but his face still wet. She wiped the tears from his cheeks, “Flowey and Chara really messed him up huh?”

Frisk nodded, sad at her friends break down, but felt relieved that Lilith had been here this time to help pick Sans back up, help put the pieces back together. Frisk was grateful that she wasn’t angry that he attacked her. She was a battle mage after all, they were pack hunters that bonded quickly, despite Lilith’s own hardships to said bonding and that meant that violent scraps with each other were quickly forgiven.

“Alright. I’ll help make sure he’s safe. You were right, Sans is alright, and he deserves someone to watch his back.” Lilith muttered sure that her growing affection was due to Frisk’s memories, and Frisk beamed at her sister. That…that made Lilith feel better about herself and her high LV. Frisk was trusting _her_ with her battle-damaged friend.

That was a massive thing among battle mages, being left to protect one’s injured friend was a sign of trust among Dens and Coven mates.  

‘ _Thank you.’_  Frisk looked back to Sans and thought about the number of times he had been torn apart emotionally and mentally by Chara and Flowey. Physically occasionally.

Well this time they’d have to go through both her _and_ Lilith if they wanted to get to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued...


	5. The Start of a Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans and Lilith spend a little time together. They find they might actually become great friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Dear readers, 
> 
> (lol at least I hope there are dear readers) 
> 
> Please take a peek at some of the changed tags, they will be effecting later chapters and when the darker themes come into play there will be specific warnings in those chapters. Please take care of yourselves should there be something that doesn't sit well with you. 
> 
> No warning need for this chapter, just Lilith and Sans becoming friends. 
> 
> Enjoy.

Sans felt exhausted when he started to drift towards consciousness, which wasn’t something completely out of the norm for him, but this was different. He felt emotionally depleted, weak and totally unprepared to deal with the fall out of his little emotional episode.

He felt oddly weightless and he was moving, swaying gently from left to right.

He felt just awful, inside and out. His soul hurt, aching in his chest with an over whelming emotional load, his bones hurt in a way that made him feel drained, and he just wanted a fucking reprieve. He wanted someone to just help him make it stop. Sure, Frisk was a powerful _someone,_ but she was just a kid, he was supposed to be the adult.  

Sans sighed and flexed a hand against…whatever he was on. It was warm, whatever it was, and soft against his chest and hard on his head. It was almost…boney. heh.

“Sans, you awake?” a soft voice asked next to his skull, and he felt his frame being readjusted against the warm thing he was leaning against.

“I think he’s waking up.” The voice said, and it vibrated pleasantly into his own chest. “I hope so.” The voice said softly.

His body was shifted again and something soft touched his back in firm, soothing circles. He groaned and pressed his face into something hard _and_ soft?

The voice snickered. “For boney little fucker, you sure are cuddly.” There was a pause, then, “Oh come on! You can’t expect me to _not_ curse!” then, “He is a boney little fucker! I’m not being mean. He did like use those, what did you call them? Gaster blasters? On me. And those puns? The. Worse. Erego, little fucker.” It was almost said fondly, like a term of endearment from someone who was impressed with him.

Sans peeled his eyes open with a great amount of effort and found his mouth was pressed into a hard shoulder and the side of his skull was pressed into the soft crook of a long neck. His arms were draped weakly around the yellow winter coat, and his body pulled tight against a muscular one.

He blinked a couple of times before he realized that he was moving backwards though the forest. He was pulled tightly to the tall body and there was an arm under his sacrum and a hand soft at his back. His legs were draped around a hard waist, dangling weakly and limp. Even the thought of moving them made him feel like sleeping again.

He moved his hand again, curling it at the base of the neck of whatever was carrying him. “Hey, you with me Sans?” The voice was soft, pulsing against his bones softly, and he found it reassuring in his exhausted state.

Was he? He didn’t think he was, not mentally at least and not emotionally. He was barley with it physically. His arm curled around the source of the voice weakly and just held it here, shaking his head no.

“Okay. It’s okay, you’re okay.” The voice paused and wasn’t directed at him, “No, it’s okay Frisk. I’ve seen this before.” Another long pause. “Felix. He used to have a really hard time after an episode. It took him a long time to remember where he was. I think this is the same.” Another pause and Sans buried his face into the hard, yellow shoulder. “Well, that memory was fucking traumatic, and based on what you showed me with the time lopes...”

The voice trailed off and Sans felt himself being readjusted. Confusion swelled, and he couldn’t figure out why they were being so nice to him. He wasn’t worth being nice too, and the lovely voice that had him was full of kindness, the soul that beat close to him full of determination. He couldn’t help but hate himself that he found a measure of comfort in those feelings, that it made him feel okay. There was so much wrong, he shouldn’t be aloud to feel anything less then despair, not when he could give his happiness away to those who deserved it. He should…

“Sans?” the voice said his name gently, encouragingly and he groaned in response as his self-deprecating thoughts were cut off and he allowed himself to just be held. “Okay, good. Sans, do you know where you are?”

That thought had never occurred to him that he should care about that. He shook his head no, curling a little tighter into the warm body that held him, one that held him tight against the elements.

“Okay, to you know who I am?”

He knew that voice. High, feminine, a little bit monotone, “Lilith.” He muttered and lifted his head again with a herculean effort, chin propping on Lilith’s shoulder. She didn’t have armor anymore, she had her armor the last time he saw her. Why didn’t she have it anymore? He felt so confused, his brain felt fuzzy. Heh, he didn’t have brains.  

“Good. That’s really good.” She squeezed him softly, held him like he mattered.  

He didn’t think he mattered all that much, certainly not like how she held him

“Frisk says not to worry. That she remembers the way, and we can wake you up just before we get to where we’re supposed to officially meet Papyrus. She hid behind,” Lilith sighed here, and she sounded like it pained her to say this “A conveniently shaped lamp.”

It made Sans snort despite the cold blackness that was swirling in his soul. He didn’t want to feel this way, he really didn’t, he just didn’t have the fight in him to try to feel better. His eyes felt heavy and he struggled to keep them open while being carried through the forest, “Heh. Aren’t I supposed to sweep you off your feet?” his voice was tired, and he wasn’t entirely sure if he mumbled that or not.

Frisk giggled, and he felt Lilith’s shoulders stiffen. “Did you just…. your first words when you wake up is a joke?”

Sans blinked slowly and snuggled harder into Lilith, because why not, “Well sure, when you’re as _bone_ tired as me, it’s easy _tibia_ honest to find the really good _rib ticklers._ ” His voice slurred with his exhaustion and he wasn’t entirely sure how clear his words came out. Pressing into the warm mage made him feel a little better, a little lifted. A little bit protected.

“Woooow. That was like three.” Lilith paused as Sans huffed a laugh, “I’m just surprised that someone that I can…uh… _see through_ has the _brains_ for so many terrible puns in a single go.”

Sans snorted softly, he didn’t have the energy to laugh as his eyes began to drop back closed, “Not bad mage.” He muttered softly, already beginning to doze, fear and hurt already dragging him back down. The warm, strong frame carrying him made him feel safe.  

“Not that you can see it,” she said suddenly, “but Frisk is wearing the _most_ devious look right now.” Lilith shrugged, his arms moving with the lifting of her shoulders.

She was, Frisk truly was. Her grin was wide and as evil as a twelve-year-old girl could make it. Like she was plotting.

“Whelp, we’re doomed.” Sans pressed into her shoulder before falling limp again.  

“Don’t you mean boned?” Lilith said in her deadpanned tone and Sans couldn’t help but laugh despite himself. Maybe, maybe the high LoVe evil mage wasn’t so bad. Maybe she wasn’t crazy and going to kill them all.  

Sans let himself be carried through the forest of Snowdin, listening to the small talk of the two sisters, or more accurately listened to Lilith ask questions to Frisk. Sometimes he would respond, but he was just content to be carried along, semi limp in the mage’s hold while he pulled himself back together emotionally.

It helped that being so close he could feel her soul’s gentle pulses of safety, affection and her need to protect them. He could tell every time she looked at Frisk, he could feel love pulsing with the other emotions that seemed to be her base line. It was comforting even if it wasn’t all directed at him, and he greedily sucked it all up. It helped him feel better in small increments, little steps at a time as the knot of hurt slowly untangled itself.  

Sans pulled his eyes open again, fighting against the need to sleep and managed to look down Lilith’s back, never quite realizing just how tall the mage was until she picked him up. “You really are an amazon huh?”

He felt Lilith’s head tilt so she could look at him, and she let out a half chuckle. Sans counted that as a win, and it made his soul feel a little lighter, “Well, I do prefer the title your _high-ness_ but I suppose amazon will do.”

It took Sans a full thirty seconds to comprehend what she had just said before he burst out laughing and feeling better than he had all morning. Damn, evil mage was starting to make him like her; he settled against her again, a slow growing contentment filling his soul at long last.

They walked along, the snow crunching under two sets of boots, Lilith had never once faltered in carrying him and Sans felt stupidly grateful. He knew that so many carried him along now, but there had been a time line when he had been the one to stop Flowey. But now…

“Stop it.” Lilith said firmly, her voice had an edge to it, and he could see her as a leader in an army.

“Stop what?” he snapped a little bitterly despite how he sucked up everything she was putting out with her soul like a sponge.

“You’re letting yourself spiral.” Lilith said carefully, slowing her steps a little to let Frisk get a head.

Sans tensed, his tone snappish, “What do you even know of it?”

She sighed deeply, annoyed. “You’re suddenly quiet and tense. Your hands are balling up in the hood of my jacket and I can hear your bones rattling. Nothing bad has happened, which means you’re thinking about something bad.”

Sans made a small noise in the back of his throat, not liking how quickly she had read him like that, and Lilith’s lips where pulled into a thin line, “Listen, Sans. Frisk showed me her memories, like I showed you mine. Frisk showed me everything, the resets, good and bad. Showed me the time lines when Flowey and Chara won. What they did to you. When you admitted that they’ve hurt you more then you’ve hurt them.”

_She looked down at Sans through Frisk’s eyes and felt the tar like thing that was attached to her sister’s soul. The thing, Chara had the skeleton pinned beneath her on his belly as she shoved his face into his brother’s dust cover scarf._

_Sans had hot tears running down his face as a heavy hand shoved him down harder, and there was a crack of a rib being peeled away from his spine. Sans managed to choke back a scream, somehow, but took a deep breath of his brother’s dust._

_“That’s right comedian. Struggle. You know you I like it when you struggle.”_

Lilith pushed the memory away, feeling sick and angry. So, so angry. 

“She shouldn’t have.” He was bitter and angry, and felt like his privacy had been violated. He felt her sudden flush of anger, but it was quickly shoved away.   

“She needed to. She needs me to bond to you all as fast as possible, and that’s hard for me with individuals outside my Den and mage type. So she showed me her bond.” Lilith’s voice was still smooth and calm despite the anger that had just been there. She looked up ahead to Frisk as she skipped along happily, unaware, “So just listen to me, okay?” he grunted, hands tight on her hood. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”

Sans nodded but didn’t believe it.

“Listen. You’re safe. Frisk is here and I’m here, and we’ll protect you. You’ve been doing this shit a long time, but you’re not alone anymore. You’re not the only one who knows about the timelines.” Brown eyes glace to Frisk, “And your only help isn’t a fucking kid. I’m going to teach Frisk how to use her power effectively.”

“Why do you care?” he muttered quietly.

“Because Frisk cares. Frisk cares so much that she found a way to the surface _to get me_. That means something. And Frisk cares a whole lot about you, which makes you someone special.  And you’re tough as all hell. I’m going to need your help to get through all this to help protect Frisk, and I’m going to need you not trapped in the past. Okay?”

Sans paused. Someone…needed him? “Really?”

“Yes. This is your territory, and I’m going to need your help.” It was firm and her voice made it seem as though it was without question, “You’re safe.” She repeated.

Sans nodded and slowly relaxed. Still felt tired, emotionally drained but it was…nice to have someone drag him from his thoughts.

“You want to talk about what’s been eating at you?” her steps picked up a little bit to keep Frisk in sight.

He was about to say no, but…. but why not. It’s not like Lilith will remember it this all goes to shit right? “Just thinking about how useless I’ve become. There was a timeline when I was the first and last line of defense against Flowey. I have stopped him so many times, so many times before Frisk jumped into the underground. I’ve…seen a lot. I’ve…” fuck, this was hard.

“They hurt you worse than Frisk knows.” Lilith said it as a statement, and not a question.     

“…Yeah.” He confirmed.

Lilith nodded and held him a little tighter, Frisk’s affection for him was starting to turn into her _own_ affection. She knew just how badly Flowey and Chara had hurt Sans, from Frisk’s horrified point of view, and that was bad enough.

_Sans was screaming in terror and pain as Chara wearing Frisk’s face, watched on grinning. They had lured Sans into the True Lab and had him pinned to a metal table with thick metal spikes through each joint. It hadn’t been easy to get him here, and Flowey hadn’t made it through the ordeal. Oh well, Chara still had her prize._

_The demon was toying with his soul, clawing at it, pulling at it, puncturing it. Doing anything to draw a cry of pain from him before finally squeezing hard enough to…._

Lilith pushed away the memory ruthlessly and hugged Sans a little tighter to her frame. Sure, she had seen the memories when Frisk set the memory spell off on her in a hazy, cruel blur with a basic idea of what had happened, but now they were coming back with a horrifying clarity. It was like putting together all the little pieces of a puzzle to get the full picture of what made Sans like this.  

“Well,” Lilith said finally, “for starters you’re not useless. You’re exhausted. You’ve been fighting an uphill battle _for years_ , on your own against an enemy you can’t beat at the end. That little bitch keeps resetting. Second, you’ve been fighting an enemy that uses torture tactics to wear you down, with no understand on how to cope with that.” She looked around, her breath puffing a little in the cold air, “Sans, cut yourself a little slack. Because that’s what you’ve been enduring, fucking torture for _years_ , and only you know how bad it got before Frisk fell down here.”

Sans was quiet, uncertain as his hands gripped her hood a little tighter to anchor himself to reality a little firmer. To have someone spell it out like that, to prove it was indeed something horrible he had endured was a relief. That someone _understood_ , was vindicating.

“So, if you needed to take a few runs and sleep, or eat or get drunk, or whatever, I think you’ve fucking earned it.” 

Sans paused a long time, Lilith’s feet crunching in the snow, Frisk was frowning at her and looking confused. “…heh. Thanks.”

Lilith nodded. “You’re welcome. You okay?”

“A little.” And he meant it. It felt…good to have someone else understand and care.

“Good. You with me?”

“Yeah. I’m with you.” He smirked. “Stuck to you like plaque.”

Lilith sighed and muttered _oh my god_ under her breath. Sans chuckled a little, feeling better again, and didn’t notice that the sound of Lilith’s shoes had changed. Not quite so crunchy, it was more like the sound of….

Lilith gasped as her feet suddenly slipped out from under her and she landed flat on her back on the ice with a _crack_ as her skull bounced off the ice. Sans cursed as Lilith fell backwards, gripping hard to her hood, his body slamming hard into hers with a crackle of magic, his skull bouncing off her chin, seeing stars.

They both groaned in pain, Lilith grabbing the back of her head while Sans held his nasal aperture.

“Fuck!” Lilith snapped once she could breathe again, Frisk’s airy laugh not far from where Lilith lay on her back.

Sans laughed suddenly, wriggling his hands out from under her neck, sitting up on her waist. She drew her knees up, feet flat on the ice with a groan, her hands coming to her chin with a wince. Her brown eyes watered and she glared up at him.

Sans laughed harder. “How was the fall?” he asked her, wiping a tear from his eye.

“Fuck off.” Lilith deadpanned, pressing her palms into her temples, and Sans laughed again.

“That was so _ice_ of you to take me on a trip!”

“Please stop.” She groaned, but it drew a smile from her.

“Oh come on Lilith. I think I’m _falling_ for you.” He smirked his shit eating grin, and his soul felt a little lighter. Like the times he had spent with Frisk doing fun, soft things.

Lilith grunted and pushed herself up, still smiling despite her words, “Why are you like this?”

His smirk only got bigger, his hands coming up behind his head and he tried to ignore how close her chest was to his. If he leaned forward, he would feel her heart and soul again.

_Where the hell did that come from._

“Paps is gonna love you.” He said to her cheerily, not having to fake it nearly as much.

Lilith quirked an eyebrow and slowly shook her head, “Are you okay?”

Sans flexed his wrists, and nodded when nothing popped, “Fine.” And Lilith winced knowing he was going to turn this into a pun. “I was _bone_ tough.”

Sans was filled with delight at her annoyed, yet amused face. “The. Worse.”

“A little fucker even?”

“No. You’ve upgraded to medium fucker.”

Sans laughed and Lilith looked over to where Frisk was still laughing, and she shook her head.

“Hey, think you could use blue magic to shove us over to Frisk. I don’t think I want to risk standing on the ice.”

Sans felt his soul swell, and he knew it should have been a stupid reaction to such a simple request. Still, that was a lot of trust she was placing in him, especially after their fight. He nodded, his smirk softening. He was getting to be useful.

“Yeah, hang on.” 

His left eye erupted in blue and yellow, and he lifted his hand up and Lilith’s was surrounded with soft blue magic. She shivered at feeling his magic envelop her soul and body, but she didn’t shy away from it. Instead she leaned into it, trusting him to not do harm.     

He flicked his wrist and Lilith gasped as her body slid across the ice without pushing off it and her back hit a snowpoff lightly. Snow bounced up lightly onto Frisk when her sisters back hit it, making her laugh again.

“You good?” he asked her, hands falling to her shoulders to steady himself.

“Yeah, I’m fine. You? Do you need to be lifted a while longer?”

He wanted to, stars he did. To be held, and be safe and not walk, he did, “Nah, I’ll survive.”

Lilith nodded, and helped Sans stand, climbing over the snowpoff to stand with Frisk. Lilith right behind him with a laugh, almost slipping once more.   

She brushed the snow off her legs and bum, and Frisk shook her head at her sister.

‘ _You like Sans!’_ Frisk looked all shades of amused, that glint back in her eye.

Lilith rolled her eyes and Sans’s smirk grew, “Daw, you like me now mage?”

Lilith gave them both an unamused look. “Well, what’s not to like? With the puns and the bones and all.”

They started down the path together, and Sans knew his brother would be just ahead, still he grinned and fell in step with the two mages.  “Awww, I should’a known you only liked me for my _bones._ ”    

Lilith groaned in frustration, “Oh my god. You are both fucking brats!” 

Frisk laughed, and Sans faked a mocking gasp, “ _Lilith!_ Language! The children.”

Both Lilith and Frisk smirked, and Frisk felt something settle in her chest. She hadn’t seen Sans this relaxed in at least a dozen time lines, and he seemed to be happier. For that, Frisk is grateful.  

_‘Yeah Lil! My poor, innocent, naive ears!’_ Frisk smirked, daring her sister to do something as only a younger sister could do.

Much to both Sans and Frisk’s delight, Lilith grinned. “Well Frisk. Guess the only thing to say is fuck.” They both gave her look of faux horror. “Fuck, fuck-ity, fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“Such language.” Sans shook his head, giving a fake look of disappointment.

_‘I have no hope now. I’m going to grow up to be a delinquent.’_

“Look what you’ve done Lilith, Frisk has turned,” his eye lights glinted “bad to the _bone._ ”

“I dunno Sans, maybe she can still be saved, but she’ll _marrowly_ escape my influence.”

It wasn’t all that funny, but they all still laughed, and Sans felt better than he had in a very long time. He had…friends?

“SANS! WHAT IS…WHO IS…IS THAT A HUMAN?” The laughter came to an abrupt halt when Papyrus found them, looking both stunned and disturbed by the little group of three he had found.

“Uhhhh hey a bro. What are ya talk’n about?” Sans grinned at his brother, and Lilith felt a pang of something. Something protective and fierce, almost like a need. The same need when it came to protecting Frisk.

She wasn’t going to let that little flower fuck hurt Papyrus.

“THOSE…THOSE TWO WITH YOU! ARE THEY….ARE THOSE HUMANS?”

“Nah bro, I think that’s a rock.”

Papyrus blinked at the rock just in front of Lilith’s boot. “BUT BROTHER. WHAT ABOUT THOSE THINGS BEHIND THE ROCK?”

Sans eye-lights danced with amusement, his soul singing happily at seeing Papyrus, and he made a show of turning to look at the two mages. “Oh. Those two.” He turned back to his younger brother. “Yeah bro, those are humans.”

Papyrus stared at Frisk, then Lilith and back again. “SANS! OH MY GOD! THEY! I’M! I’M GOING TO BE SO POPULAR!”

Sans’ grin was suddenly easier and the weight in his soul lessened at seeing his brother, and his white eye lights glanced nervously to Lilith, “You sure are bro.” Sans grin got a little wider, and Lilith watched him relax by degrees. “You’re gonna do great!”

Papyrus grinned and drew himself up tall, his scarf blowing in the wind like a red cape, “OF COURSE I AM BROTHER! FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL CAPTURE THSE TWO HUMANS AND BRING THEM TO THE KING! THEN I WILL BE ADORED! I WILL HAVE FRIENDS AND I WILL JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD!”

Lilith frowned a little and felt her heart do that stupid little sinking thing. Glancing to Frisk, her little sister was beaming at Papyrus, so ready to play puzzles with her dear friend. To become his friend once again. Frown deepening, Lilith glanced to Sans, but he had a hell of a poker face and Lilith couldn’t get a read on him now that he had shored himself up.

“YOU HAD BETTER BE PREPARED HUMANS! FOR THE PUZZLES YOU ARE ABOUT TO FACE ARE DREADFUL! AND DEADLY! AND! AND! YOU WILL FAIL AT THEM MOST SPECTACLARILY, AND I SHALL CAPTURE YOU! NEH! HEH! HEH! COME TINY HUMAN! YOU SHALL FACE MY PUZZLES, THEN YOU AND TALL HUMAN WILL BE CAPTURED!”

Frisk looked back at Lilith and gave her sister a thumbs up before she turned and bound off after Papyrus happily, motioning for the taller skeleton to take her to the first puzzle, slipping her tiny hand into his massive gloved one.

“OH! TINY HUMAN! DO YOU… DO YOU LIKE PUZZLES AS WELL?” there was a touch of enthusiasm and confusion in his tone, and Frisk just smiled up at him with a determined nod. Delight so pure and real that Lilith had never seen someone look that truly happy split across his face. “IN THAT CASE TINY HUMAN, LET US PROCEDE TO THE FIRST PUZZLE! NEH! HEH! HEH!”

For Frisk, this was the best part of the underground, playing puzzles with Papyrus and goofing off with Sans. Squeezing Papyrus’s hand, Frisk turned to wave good bye to Lilith before she skipped off with Papyrus.

Lilith waved after her little sister, still standing with Sans, “She’s safe, yeah?”

Sans nodded, glancing up at Lilith a little uncertain, “Yeah, she’s safe in Snowdin.”

“Right. It’s after Snowdin that shit gets real.” Lilith huffed, annoyed and feeling itchy, her magic crackling around her.

Sans stilled, “Yeah. Undyne is a problem. But Frisk gets…through it.”

Lilith sighed and gave him a side long look with a cold frown. The nasty comment about her sister’s certain death was pulled down hard, shoved deep inside where she wouldn’t find it again and ignored, “So, your brother.” Lilith said changing the subject, and suddenly felt a cold tingle down her spine. Like…

Like _her sins were crawling down her back_

She glanced to Sans, “Hey, cool it dude. Wasn’t gonna say anything bad.”

Sans slowly looked up at her, his eye lights gone completely, and he frowned up at her, “What about him?” his words were careful and cold. If Lilith’s LV wasn’t what it was it would have frightened her.  

Still, Lilith blinked at him, her cold eyes flashing red with magic in response to his own careful tug at his power, “He’s a fucking cinnamon bun too precious for this world.”

_Papyrus lifted Frisk up onto his shoulders and she giggled. She gripped his head with tiny hands, and her little feet kicked out. Papyrus laughed too, an extra skip to his step as Frisk cuddled into him._

The memory made Lilith feel warm and happy, and that dark, cruel protective streak bolted through her, “He needs to be protected at all costs.” Sans blinked at her monotone voice and sure words.

“Wait what? Seriously?” His eye lights came back into view, and that heavy, fearful knot in his soul began to come undone.

Lilith nodded, still cold like stone, “As a heart attack.” She turned her sure, icy gaze to him, “That I promise you, I will fucking kill anyone who hurts him.”  

Sans stared up at her, uncertain and unbelieving, “Shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“I don’t.” Lilith told him firmly, watching as Frisk and Papyrus disappeared around a corner, “Your brother is the only one to ever be kind to Frisk even in battle, every single time. He is never cruel, he never hurts her. He never _kills_ her. Even when she is caught in the grips of that thing, Papyrus did not hurt her. Even when he had every right to by _our_ laws.” She tipped her head to look at Sans, “That is loyalty that is not bought but earned and I will repay it in kind. I won’t let anything happen to your brother.”  

Sans stared at her hard, eyes squinting at her to detect the lie, finding none, “Huh…thanks.” He shrugged softly and started down the path after their excitable and determined younger siblings. A wave of relief washed through him, that Lilith at least was a solid defense for Papyrus.

Lilith fell in line next to him again, and Sans felt the warmth of being carried again, felt safe next to the tall, dangerous mage. Lilith nodded to him, eyes unfocused and in thought, “Why does Papyrus think he doesn’t have friends?”

The question was asked carefully, and he could hear the thread of steel in her tone. Could hear the threat of violence and a promise of harm to those who have hurt Papyrus. Fuck, evil mage was really making him like her. 

“He does have friends,” Sans said slowly, huffing out a breath to calm himself, “Undyne is his friend. Frisk…will be his friend.” He gave a little shrug and dropped his eye lights.

Lilith glanced down, frowning at him, and she was forced to rethink her strategy of dealing with Undyne. If she was one of Papyrus’s only friends, Lilith couldn’t out right kill her for harming Frisk, “Right. Then why doesn’t he think he has more friends.”

Sans shrugged, eye-lights on the well packed snow, not minding when the cold soaked his slippers, “I dunno why most of the other monsters ignore him or think he’s,” Sans paused, suddenly glaring, “They think he’s stupid.” The admission was practically torn from him and it made Lilith frown.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Lilith could hear the steel in Sans voice, “That because Papyrus is so energetic, monsters confuse that with stupidity. They disregard him because of his nature.” Narrowed eye-lights turned up to Lilith, and they matched her coldness, “My bro is not stupid.”    

_Papyrus was crouching down next to Frisk, very carefully setting a tripwire of all things, his voice nothing but a whisper, “Okay now Tiny Human. When setting a trap or a puzzle, a tripwire is a good, beginner place to start. You need to keep the tension just so, otherwise your trap wont spring.”_

_A red glove carefully struck the tripwire and it made a soft_ twang _as it vibrated before Frisk’s careful, undivided attention._  

Lilith shook he memory away and fought to keep the smile from her face despite the gentleness that filled her soul, “No, Papyrus is not stupid.” She agreed and tucked the information that Sans gave her about the other monsters away for later.

Frisk didn’t need to deal with that one, after all, if Lilith couldn’t fight anyone she sure as hell could make them feel bad about themselves. It would come easily to those who would aim to hurt Papyrus, and Lilith found herself looking forward to giving that verbal smack down.

Sans felt a shiver run though him and he wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or something else. Exhaustion maybe, but he doubted that it was the cold, protective magic the mage was filled with, not when it was directed toward protecting his brother. Still, he looked up at Lilith and tilted his head, “Hey, let’s let the kiddos play. Let’s go to Grillby’s, I know a short cut.”

He held out his hand to Lilith, whose dark eyes glanced down at him and worried at her inner lip before she nodded, “Alright, let’s go to Grillby’s.” and she took his skeletal hand, curling her fingers around his.

Sans paused and looked at her long fingers curled around his own phalanges and felt something sooth the edges of his tattered soul. It made him feel lighter, half way to happy, maybe? He quickly shook his head and shoved the off feeling away, Lilith waiting patiently.

He gave her a smirk and managed to keep his voice even, “And a one, and a two, and a-“there was a vop, and Lilith felt herself being tugged along via someone else’s magic in an odd jerk at her soul. She felt herself being pulled away from the forest in one solid piece, it was odd not being broken down into smoke and magic to move across a battlefield and an odd sense of motion sickness to move far further then her own line of sight.

“And a three.” Sans said happily as they appeared in the centre of town.

Lilith stumbled a little, catching herself on Sans frame, her hand on his shoulder, her other fist to her mouth. She fought back the acidic taste of stomach acid, swallowing it back thickly as she fought to get her head to stop spinning. He grinned at her, almost laughing but not quite allowing a full chuckle. Lilith rose a brow at him, giving him an unamused look as she got her footing.

“Thought you were good at teleporting?” Sans asked cheekily.

Lilith swallowed back the taste of bile one more time before shaking nausea off, “Teleporting long distances is a whole different experience. Teleporting whole is a super fucking weird.” Then she looked up, and her icy eyes brightened with surprise and excitement, “Whoa. This is Snowdin?” she asked, looking around at the snow-covered village and the twinkling lights, “It’s like…a Christmas display or something.”

Her fingers squeezed at his shoulder, and there was pure delight in her eyes that made them sparkle, “It’s so pretty!” she gushed, looking one way, then the other and uncertain where to go first. Sans smirked up at her, and tried to see Snowdin through her eyes, tried to remember what it was like when they first moved here, his soul feeling a little lighter.

“Can we check out the town before we get some food?” she asked, a little breathless and hopeful.

Sans found himself shrugging and nodding his head, “Eh, sure why not.”

Lilith grinned at him and released his shoulder before she bolted down the street to see the Library like a child. Shaking his head at her, Sans watched her go with no small amount of amusement.

That’s when he felt it. Something akin to dread settled in his soul, a coldness at the back of his neck and a sense of hopelessness pushed out all the warmth. Sans felt his shoulders slump and his eye lights dimmed. It wasn’t so much of being tired as it was a deep exhaustion that suddenly filled him. Like something had sucked all the energy and happiness right from him, leaving him tired and sad.

There was a voice, it sounded hallow and far away, just behind his thoughts. _~~She isn’t going to want you. That warmth you feel is a lie. Why would she even want to hold your awful hand? Stop being so foolish.~~_ Sans shrunk further into himself. Right, why would she want to hold his hand? His head drooped and that awful little voice giggled. It sounded familiar, but Sans couldn’t place where.

_~~That’s right comedian. You’re a worthless, pathetic, ugly little skeleton. Why would a tall, pretty mage like that, want a piece of shit like you?~~ _

“I don’t like her like that.” Sans said to no one, shoulders hunched up, he followed Lilith at a much more sedated pace as darkness clouded his soul, “She’s a friend, Frisk’s older sister. T-that’s it.”

_~~Of course. It’s not like you were holding her hand and staring oh so hopefully.~~_ The voice giggled again, high and mocking. _~~So pathetic. Do you really think that she would even want to be your friend? Why would she? You’re so pitiful. A gentle breeze could push you over, heh, if it didn’t go through you. You’ve got nothing that would even make her happy.~~_

“I guess so.” He mumbled, eye lights barley lit now.

The voice laughed again, _~~You should just quit Sans. Give up. It’s what your good at.~~_

Maybe…maybe the voice was right.        

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be Continued...


	6. Finding Your Den

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lilith helps both Sans and Papyrus, in vastly different ways and starts to figure out something Frisk has already suspected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you readers who commented! It means so much to me! Enjoy the next chapter.

By the time Lilith had made her way to Grillby’s, she had happily seen every other shop in Snowdin with a sense of glee she hadn’t thought she still possessed. There was something about this quaint little town and its hopeful residence that just inspired determination. It settled her crimson soul, and gave it a power boost, making her feel light and giddy.

Now however, Lilith glanced nervously to Sans. She noticed a change in him almost immediately, how his shoulders fell, and he wouldn’t, or couldn’t, look up at her. His shit eating grin fell so that he barley was able to lift the corners of his mouth, and the lack of humor or puns was well…wrong.

Lilith knew that it was Frisk’s memories that bred such easy affection for Sans, but without his smirk and jokes he just seemed so small. Fragile even.

Lilith kept it up for him, made sure her smile was a little wider, her eyes a little lighter. She fought to keep the cold from her orbs, and she tried to force a bit more inflexion into her voice. She even tried to use a few more puns, make a few more jokes, but nothing even made him look up.

Now that they sat at the bar, Sans slumped next to her, Lilith leaned forward pressing her elbows into the wood, never taking her worried gaze from the suddenly depressed skeleton next to her. Lilith sighed and wished Lola was here, she would know what to say or do. Would know how to ease Sans in a way Lilith didn’t, the shield maiden just had that knack.

The fire monster, Grillby, sat a bottle of ketchup in front of Sans and a glass of water for Lilith. She thanked him, knowing it would have been difficult for him to get her the drink and she didn’t miss the worried look he gave Sans. The light orange spots that Lilith assumed where Grillby’s eyes glanced to her before settling back on Sans.

She gave Grillby a small nod and waited until he walked away to assist another patron. Lilith watched him leave before she turned her attention back to Sans, “Hey, you okay?”

Sans blindly reached for the ketchup bottle and toyed with it, giving her a little grunt at her words. Lilith frowned then hooked her foot under the bar of his stool and she tugged him closer. Sans didn’t react, just let himself be tugged sideways so he was closer to Lilith.

“Sans?” she tried again, and her soul folded in on itself when he didn’t respond. “Sans are you with me?” that worked last time and Lilith hoped it worked again.

It did, a little, and Sans lifted his dim, dull eye lights up to her and Lilith was not braced for the feelings of destitute, helplessness and grief that hit her in waves, her soul shuttering at the projections. Swallowing hard, Lilith felt herself lose that giddy happiness she had since coming to Snowdin.       

She fought to keep the coldness from her eyes and smile, but her voice fell back to its soft, monotone pattern, “Sans, are you with me?” she asked again and slowly he shook his head no. Lilith licked her lips and took a mouthful of water. “What happened?” his eyes fell away, and he shrugged.

Lilith nodded, wincing when she was hit with another pang of grief from Sans. She took a deep breath and focused on her own projections, pushing protection, fondness and affection to Sans. Hoped he could feel it resonating from her soul, like a gentle hum from her soul to his.

Sans shuttered, clenching his eyes shut, “Don’t lie.” He managed to mutter so low that Lilith almost missed it.

“Can’t fake that.” Lilith reminded him, and let her own feelings push into him, not so powerfully to overwhelm him but at least enough to provide security, “Sans, what happened?”

Another shrug, and Lilith frowned, desperately wishing that Frisk was here. Lilith shoved that thought away, it was useless and pointless. Frisk wasn’t here, but Lilith was. Felix got like this way sometimes, sad and hurt for no easily seen reason. He would just get quite and sad, hurt echoing quietly from his soul, calling to his Den for help. Depression chewing at his soul, making him feel grey and unhappy, so severely that after the war they had found him a doctor who helped with that sort of thing. Felix still had lapses despite doing so much better since they had first found the doctor, days when he was hurting and vulnerable, looking just like Sans did right now.

On those days, one of them would spend the day with Felix, taking him to their room and just holding him, letting him sleep. Sometimes, they would convince him to go outside and sleep in the shade of the large maple tree in their yard, protecting him when he was unable to protect himself. Sometimes, they would call his doctor for help, ensuring that he knew he was safe with their Den no matter what else happened. That he didn’t have to hide his pain, that they would always be there, that the Den looked out for their own.  

“Hey, you seem really tired.” She tried, hoping she was taking steps in the right direction. She could provide the same level of care for Sans as she did Felix, “Why don’t we get out of here and head to your place? We can wait for Papyrus and Frisk there? Maybe have a nap?”

Sans stared at the wooden bar, and Lilith could see him becoming more desponded, watched him hunch in on himself. Worry began to eat away at her, fear creeping in like thin tendrils into her soul as _concern_ for Sans bubbled hotly. It made her LV flicker in agitation, instinct demanding that she care for her battle weary Den mate. The thought made her blush, and Lilith quickly pushed it away, knowing she had meant friend. 

“Sans?” she tried again, reaching out to lightly touch his elbow.

It was enough to draw those dim eye lights back to her, “Sure. I guess.”

Protectiveness flared hard in her belly, and the thought _this is so not good_ fluttered though her mind, her unease becoming alarm as Sans drew inward, “Okay, come on Sans. Let’s go.”  The way his eye-lights were soft and fuzzy, the way his smile was shaky at the edges and the way his teeth clenched made him look vulnerable and lost. _Easy pickings for those looking to do harm_ floated though Lilith’s mind; she had seen that more then enough in war; Mage’s whose entire Den’s had been wiped out had been easy targets by those who were looking for a pet or two.

Lilith had more then a few scars from rescue missions when the council had found their Coven mates in such a predicament, sending the personification of Death to retrieve what was theirs. The Mages she brought home were so shaken, shattered beyond fairness, some sobbing at even being rescued. It wasn’t like they had anyone waiting back home for them, and those ones Lilith pitied.  

Lilith jumped off her stool, Grillby catching her eye and she found herself shuttering at the look he was giving her. She knew a threat when she saw one, and the vibe that Grillby was giving her was _be careful with him._

Lilith nodded to the fire monster in understanding as Sans jumped down, muttering for Grillby to put the drinks on his tab before he stumbled out the door. Lilith followed along slowly, taking in for the first time the pitying looks from some of the others, _they knew he suffered,_ the look of longing on one particular bun that said there was nothing innocent in her intent, _bitch I will fucking cut you,_ and from one particularly ugly fish, open hostility.

Lilith lightly gripped Sans shoulder and he barely looked up to her hand as crimson filled her eyes. Magic crackled lightly around her, flooded her muscles and she made direct, openly aggressive eye contact with the ugly fish until he looked away.  

Her hand on Sans shoulder was feather light so that he could have shook her off if he wanted to, and she kept her flaring annoyance from him through sheer will alone while her crimson gaze turned angrily to the bar. Even the drunken bun suddenly looked down, and Lilith kept ahold of her magic with tight control until they were back out in to the cold of Snowdin. If they thought that she was going to let them do or say anything that would harm Sans, physically or emotionally, they certainly had another thing coming.

Sans pushed his way out into the cold weather of Snowdin, Lilith letting him go out on his own and with one last baleful stare, she followed him out. Disheartened eyes looked back up at the mage, and Sans didn’t back away from the crimson that reflected at him, “This way.” He muttered, turning to walk home with Lilith in tow.

Two long strides brought Lilith beside Sans and her hand drifted down to his, her fingers curling once again around his. His dim eye lights drifted down to where she held his hand, and he curled tighter into himself, “You don’t need to hold my hand.” He muttered, “You don’t have to embarrass yourself.”

Lilith frowned at that, “Sans you…I..” she paused and regrouped, “Sans I’m not embarrassed to be seen with you. Or hold your hand.” She squeezed his fingers a little tighter, and didn’t let go, “why would you think I would be?”

Sans shrugged, the sadness remained but he curled his own fingers back around her own hand. The grip was loose and weak, “I’m a skeleton.” He said weakly, as though that would explain it.

Lilith frowned at him, giving his hand the lightest of squeezes, “So?” she asked slowly, “Sans I’m a mage. Why would being seen with a monster bother me?”

“Skeleton.” He told her weakly, slowly leading Lilith home.

Pausing, Lilith thought for a moment, “You know, we have a flock of dragons that we have an agreement to help protect our territory. I’m close with one of their youngest, Wren. If I’m not afraid to be seen with a dragon, why would I be afraid to be seen with you?”

Sans’ response was automatic, “Dragons are useful.” _I’m not_ was unsaid, but that didn’t mean Lilith didn’t hear it.

“You protected Frisk.” Lilith said firmly, “You stopped her when she was a monster.” And she winced at her own words, but Lilith understood that there was a difference between monsters and a _monster_. “You helped her reset when she needed you too. That’s worth something, worth more than a dragon.”

Sans huffed, head down, that cold still on the back of his neck and he didn’t say anything more for the rest of the walk back home. That horrible little voice just whispering in the back of his subconscious.

_~~She’s lying. You’re a pathetic little skeleton who murdered her sister. She’ll get you Sans. She’s just buying time. Besides, you’ll make her hate you. You’ll make her do it. You want her to do it, just convince her to.~~ _

Sans shook his head, trying to dislodge the cruel little voice, tried to focus on the warmth of Lilith’s hand and the magic that still crackled around her. 

The walk though Snowdin took too long as far as Lilith was concerned. Far too long for Sans to shuffle along beside her, gripping her hand with increasing strength. He started trembling at some point, his bones rattling against each other, and he slowly began to press into her side as they walked.

Lilith drew him in lightly, allowed Sans the comfort he sought from someone. Anyone it appeared. Lilith allowed it easily, words her captain had spoken to her and her squad ringing with sudden clarity. Words she had spoken to her own squads after she and her Den rose to the ranks of leadership in the war.

_She had been young, fresh to the front lines with Felix, they had not yet earned the nicknames Death and War and only recently separated from the rest of their Den. All the other battle mages were in the same boat, young and new to the war, away from their Dens for the first time._

_Lilith and Felix worried about Ryder, Lola and Sloan, but this mission was for battle mages, not the others. So here they were._

_“Keep your wounded in the centre of the pile.” Their squad captain, a veteran of the war. A hulking man, bigger then even Ryder with dark skin and kind eyes. A kindness soul was rare for battle mages, but here Altaive stood, his second and third at his left and right._

_“Keep your wounded safe.” Altaive ordered as the younger mages hunkered down for the night, the guards already posted to keep watch while they were behind enemy lines. “And maintain physical contact with each other, if you’re not touching someone, you’re doing it wrong!”_

_Lilith and Felix lay down, Lilith’s head on his belly and another mage she didn’t know lay a head on her hip. Another yet wound an arm around a leg. Lilith herself reached out to grip a shoulder, and a hand reached back to grip at her elbow._

_Felix, long and athletic Felix sighed happily, his justice soul settling. He muttered something in Egyptian, a long dead language now, but it was his parent’s mother tongue and a tradition for their Den to continue to teach their children the language._

_“It will strengthen your bonds, drive you to protect each other. And what is more powerful than a battle mage?”_

_The squad shouted back, “WELL CONNECTED BATTLE MAGES!”_

_“That’s right!” Altaive shouted back. “Well connected, emotionally cohesive squad mates from the same coven are a force to be reckoned with! Nothing is more dangerous, then battle mages who have something to lose!” he laughed bitterly, “Unless you’re dealing with a battle mage who has lost everything. Now get some sleep.”_

Lilith knew it to be true, battle mages would bond easily through physical contact, and that helped maintain that emotional cohesion is what helped them win the war. She had lost a good chunk of that squad, she had lost Altaive but he had paved the way for her and Felix to become what they are today. Taught them how to be good, effective leaders. He had helped them to become the personification of Death and War, and the rest of their very small and relevantly newly formed Den to become a force to be feared.

Those lessons had stuck, and Lilith knew the importance of maintaining physical contact. After she had lost a good majority of that first squad, Lilith found it hard to bond with other mages, found it hard to do the necessary physical contact to form those bonds. It hurt to lose people.  

Still, she drew Sans into a sideways hold and felt her own soul settle at the physical contact and tried to ignore how much it would hurt if she lost him, especially if she got any more attached.   

They finally got to where they were going, and Lilith looked up at the two-story house, smiling up at the happily twinkling lights and the pirate flag that gently flapped in the breeze, “Cute.”

Sans shrugged and pulled himself out of her half hug to shuffle his way up the stairs and into the house. Lilith followed along behind him, walking into the warmth of Sans and Papyrus’s home, glancing around at their quaint little home. Not looking back at her, Sans shuffled forward and landed face first into his couch, not bothering to remove his soaking slippers or sweater.

Frowning, Lilith pulled off her boots, winter coat and snow pants, hanging them up in the closet neatly and found herself huffing a laugh at finding a plastic skeleton in the hall closet. She opened her mouth to make a joke but cut herself off at seeing Sans face down on his couch, laying limp and despondent.

Nodding to herself and refocusing her attention to Sans, Lilith padded to where he had allowed himself to collapse and carefully pulled off his overly worn slippers. Those were tucked neatly next to her boots, and they seemed so thin next to her warm boots. She shook her head, promising to find Sans a proper pair of shoes once they got to the surface. A pair of thick socks too. It made Lilith cold just to think about how little Sans wore to keep himself warm.       

Careful, silent steps brought her back to Sans and a gentle hand to the center of his back brought his dim gaze up to her. “You’re too quiet.” He muttered up to her, taking a close look at the battle mage’s arms, an odd thing to be hyper focused on, “Need a freak’n bell.”

Her arms were speckled with light freckles, and there were scars all down them. Some were deep and thick, others were thin and barley there. The one through her eye brow the only one on her face that was noticeable. 

She snorted at him, “Yeah,” her voice drew his gaze up from her muscular arms to her unusually soft face. Sans didn’t think he had seen her look so gentle since he met her, “Being silent has saved my ass a number of times over the span of my life. It’s a hard trait to shake, and I don’t think I want a bell.” 

“Hmm.” His eyes slid shut and Sans was ready to fall into a light sleep and nap until the kiddo and Papyrus returned. Maybe he would feel better by then and this dark, cruel feeling would finally go away. Maybe he could relax and soak in the happiness and comfort from the humans and his brother.

Yeah, and maybe Olivia, the drunken bun that was always at Grillby’s would stop trying to get into his pants. Stars above, sleep around with a bun a little and they think they own you forever.

Lilith patted the center of his back again, “Hey, come on, get up a sec.” she said to him, hand soothing circles at his back. Sans groaned but did as he was told and pushed himself up.

Lilith crouched in front of him and unzipped his snow wet hoodie and peeled it off, “Don’t want you to get sick.” She said to him quietly and she guided him to lay down with his head on a cushion at one end of the couch, his feet towards the door.      

Sans hummed as she went to hang his hoodie up in the closet with her coat, Lilith pausing when she spotted a thick blanket tucked up top of the closet. She snagged it when Sans thin voice called out, “Can’t get sick. The cold goes right though me.”

Lilith rolled her eyes and shook the blanket out to drape over him. “Really?” she sounded amused as she lifted a foot to pull a sock off, then the other, dropping them to the floor, “Goes right through you?”

Sans laughed a little, his eye lights brightening when she pulled the blanket back and slid in next to him and he automatically pulled away, “Wait, what…what are you doing?”

A flat expression met him, and Lilith rolled her eyes, “Physical contact helps settle distressed battle mages. I’m hoping it will help settle whatever has triggered your anxiety.”

He glared weakly up at Lilith, feeling a bluish blush creep along his face. Her body was solid in a way his was not and warm, and this close he could feel her deep well of magic humming through her body, following the same rhythm of her pulse. She settled down next to him, so they were facing each other, and Sans felt his face grow impossibly hotter and the cyan flooded down to his cervical vertebra.

Lilith rolled her eyes, “Oh come on. It’s not like I didn’t carry you through most of the forest today, you’re all shy now?”

Embarrassed, Sans shrugged and tried to push away the awkwardness, “Yeah, most people don’t climb into bed with me unless they want something from me.” He wasn’t ashamed of that. He knew what he was and how he used his body. It was no secret that Olivia and sometimes Muffet would crawl into his bed, and use his body, and he would let them. They didn’t take the time to make sure he got something out of it, but at least it gave him some sense peace for a short while, drove the cold away, but neither of them cared about him. He didn’t matter.

 _ ~~You don’t.~~_ It didn’t matter. The voice wasn’t wrong, Sans didn’t matter. Nothing did. Eventually Chara would win and send the mage home and she would forget all about him. He would be stuck here, alone, forever.

Sans didn’t care that Muffet and Oliva didn’t care about him, were only using him for their own escape so they didn’t fall down. No one cared.

Except. 

Except his brother. They didn’t care about him, not like the way his brother or Frisk _cared_ about him _._ Not like Lilith was starting to care, and that was bullshit wasn’t it? Why should anyone care about him if this was all going to be gone anyways? Besides, this seemed too close, with her pressed up against him on the narrow couch but her hands never wandered. They never touched inappropriately or tried to force him into something else. No, what the mage was doing was something else altogether. Something that was far too intimate, and she held like he mattered. He didn’t matter, and he shouldn’t trick the evil mage into thinking he did.    

Lilith paused, and frowned at him, “That’s not very nice.” There was the slightest flare of crimson before her magic settled at the implication there. She took a breath, and let the awful curl of dark emotion go, who Sans slept with was not her business. She had no claim over him, and as his friend could only hope they treated him kindly. If they didn’t, however, Lilith would see to it that they didn’t do it again. The dark emotion purred, and her high LV settled at the thought, “Okay so, let’s get some ground rules.”

Lilith stopped blaming Frisk for her affection for Sans. Sure, the memories may have started it, but Lilith had long since stopped fighting them. It seemed like such a long time ago when Sans collapsed against her, trusting her to keep him safe.

They had bigger worries right now, and right now Sans needed support. Lilith’s type of mage didn’t do well with talking about their feelings, Lola and her healers did that. Comfort was given with proximity and soft touches. It was given with fierce protection and loyalty.

She could do that for him.

“Right.” Sans nodded, drawing out the word slowly. The cold feeling was spreading down his spine and his soul ached. He didn’t matter. He didn’t matter. _~~You don’t matter.~~_     

“This is a battle mage thing, if anything blame it one that. When we see someone we care about hurting, our instinct is to shield and protect until we get them some place safe. Once someplace safe, if a healer isn’t needed, comfort and protect.”

Sans blinked at her and he smirked, “So you cuddle them?” See, he didn’t matter, it was instinct. Nothing more, “Wow, I thought you were a bad ass this whole time.” He dead panned. “An entire subspecies of mage whose name is _battle_ mage, and your best solution to a booboo is a puppy pile.”  

Lilith felt her face heat and go red, and Sans couldn’t help but find that charming, “First of all, battle mage puppy piles, are the best puppy piles. Don’t kid yourself. Secondly, yes. Cuddle until everything stops hurting. It helps maintain bonds with us, makes us feel better.” She paused remembering that not everyone was a battle mage and sometimes instincts were wrong in the eyes of others, “But this might be weird for you, so if you want me to get off the couch I will. Just say so.” 

Yep, this sure was weird. One of the weirder days Sans can remember, but at least it’s different and that seems to help drive the cold, depressed feeling from his soul for a while, “It is weird,” he admitted, eye lights shifted down and the warmth from Lilith’s soul was easing into his again, pushing away the cold, “But this is okay. Thanks.”

Lilith nodded settling next to him, as relaxed as he was tense when her arm curled around him.

“So..uh. How’d you get those scars?” he asked stupidly, glancing at the arm that held him, trying to find something to talk about to help ease the tension and get rid of the embarrassment.

Lilith shrugged, “This okay?”

“Uhh. Sure?”

Lilith nodded and let her eyes slip shut. Might as well get some sleep as well, “Depends on the scar.”

White eye lights glanced to the arm that curled around him, and he picked one at random, “This one.” And he gently touched a crescent moon shaped scar on her forearm.  

She didn’t even open her eyes when a skeletal finger touched her forearm, “Got into a scrap behind enemy lines. Had a young mage on my squad and after we delivered our _package,_ she made a mistake that drew unnecessary attention to our presence. The enemy sunk a knife into my arm, they were aiming for my chest but I blocked. The fucking thing went right though my gauntlet, sunk right up to the handle and the blade came out the other side.”

Sans hummed and picked a different scar, this one looked like a bite mark that circled her wrist, “What about that one?”

Lilith smirked, “Was sneaking into another coven’s base. I didn’t realize they had summoned a highly intelligent species of piranha to guard the swamps around their compound. It really only takes one bite before you get the fuck outta the water.”

Sans snorted and settled into Lilith finally, “Right. What about that one.” He pointed to the scar that ran though her eye brow.

Lilith opened her eyes when she didn’t feel a tap and her eyes narrowed on the finger the pointed up at her face. She barked a laugh at his question, and her smirk became a real smile, “Oh, that scar. Heh. Well.” She laughed again, and she shook her head.

“Okay, so. We, myself and my Den were being reunited after being separated for several long battles and a brutal campaign that we weren’t sure if any of us would have survived.” Her face fell a little, “It was the near the start of the war for us and it just seemed like it was never going to end, we were all certain we were going to die without ever seeing peace. No one was ready to surrender. Anyways, Sloan and I had just been reunited. Lola, Felix and Ryder were due in the following day, but the spell casters had been shipped in a day early. We were stationed with a platoon of Valkyrie,”

Lilith paused smirked, “Now those bitches can party.” She laughed a little, “So, Sloan and I had a few drinks, you know, glad that we were both fucking alive. And we had this brilliant idea. See, we were stationed in Greenland at the time and its full of snow, ice and mountains. So, what better to do then go sledding down a mountain on a Valk shield?”    

Sans rose a boney brow, the cold was starting to dissipate, and he wasn’t feeling quite so sad, “You didn’t.”

Lilith smirked, “Sloan and I _borrowed_ a couple of shields.”

“Commandeered you mean.” Sans said, amusement finally seeping into his tone, despite the cold that prickled at the back of his neck.

“Borrowed.” Lilith reassured with a grin, “So we haul these fucking shields up the mountain side, and you have to understand Sans. Valkyrie keep their shields in perfect condition, well _oiled_. So up we go the first time, and down we go. It had been the most fun we had, had in months. The first time in ages that we weren’t in an active campaign or mission. It was such a needed moment of peace. And the goddess above, we flew, I’m surprised that we didn’t hit a tree. So, after one successful run we decide to do it again and haul the shields back up the mountain.”

Lilith is smiling now, and Sans feels his soul swell stupidly, “And we go back down again. So,” she giggles and can barely hold it together now, “So I hit a tree root on the second run and go ass over tea kettle down the mountain.” She was laughing now, and Sans felt his mouth tip into a smile, “Somehow I made it to the bottom of the mountain with minor bruising, pretty sure it was because I was a little tipsy and was loose until I hit the bottom.”

Lilith was laughing harder now, and Sans shook his head at her, “So, so I get up, dust myself off. I turn to give Sloan a thumbs up that I was okay and took the full weight of a shield rolling top speed down the fucking mountain to the face.”

Lilith burst into laughter now, and Sans didn’t quite get the joke, but who was he to judge, “S-Sloan thought I fucking killed myself. Broke my fucking neck with how hard it hit me, took my healing ability _hours_ to knit the bones back together properly.” She wiped the tears from her eyes from laughing so hard, and Sans shook his head, “I was a lot younger back then. Would probably only take a few minutes now.”

“You’re crazy, you know that?” Sans asked her, the smirk he wore something closer to his real smile.

Lilith snorted, “You wouldn’t be the first one to notice. The covens call it battle mage tendencies.”

Sans shook his head; evil mage was an odd one for sure. Covered in scars from vicious battles and war, except for the one on her face from something children would do, and he found himself chuckling despite himself.

He shook his head at her and settled back down on the cushion, settling between Lilith and the back of the couch, “I’m willing to bet not many know that story, do they?”          

Lilith snored, “No. Doesn’t really go with the whole bad ass image of a battle mage.” She shrugged, “And Sloan and I usually can’t get through the story without bursting into laughter.”

Sans shook his head and settled back again, leaning a little more heavily into Lilith’s body and let his eyes close, “Crazy, evil mage.” He yawned, finally letting exhaustion drag him down into the sweet embrace of sleep.

Lilith rose a brow at him, mouthing the words _evil mage?_ Before rolling her eyes. She settled down next to him, draped an arm around him a little tighter and figured she was due for a nap. Besides it was warm, and Sans was relaxed next to her, sleep would probably do her some good. Her eyes slipped shut and she began to drift.

It was when she was in that place between awake and asleep, when the astral plane was open to even a battle mage that Lilith suddenly shuttered when she felt a wave a cold near her and her magic crackled around her. Had she been more awake she would not have felt it the cold as she had; had she been more awake she would have realized that it was a very old, and the most basic of magical defense mechanisms to protect her from things unseen that caused her magic to act so aggressively. Like a sentient thing within her soul.   

Lilith fell asleep curling around Sans, with her magic crackling and lashing out, driving away the cold with malicious tentacles of magic until Lilith couldn’t feel it any longer.

Sans, on the other hand, whimpered and burrowed into her side.

+

On the other side of the veil, that thing that separated the living from the dead Chara frowned at the battle mage.

Black, tar like hate poured down the dead time mage’s face and she glared at the sleeping creature next to Sans. She had to hand it to Frisk, little bitch was smart. If Chara was honest with herself, she was a tiny bit impressed that Frisk had managed to gather enough determination and magic to push herself back far enough to seek help.

Pitch black eyes narrowed. This was fine, she would find a way to make this work. She would find a way to turn this into an advantage and win the game or force a reset. Battle mage or not.

Chara’s mouth pulled into a smile, cruel and dark as her gaze fell onto her favorite toy.  

_Sans._

He was so much fun to break. So much fun to toy with and push until the fissures in his soul became wide, unyielding canyons. Until she tipped him just the right way, with just the right words that he would tear apart his own soul.      

It was almost as satisfying as trying to do it herself with Frisk’s body. To hear Frisk scream and cry for mercy when Chara picked him apart bit by bit. Bone by satisfying bone.

Chara grinned, sweet memories of him screaming, of Sans shattering filled her. It had been more satisfying before, before she had broken him beyond repair, but to watch him implode and drag his friends and brother down with him was never a drag.

To see the once mighty judge, fall so far filled Chara with determination.

Serves him right, Chara thought to herself, for all those times he had killed Frisk’s body and allowed the little bitch’s soul a chance to reset and take her body back.

Rubbing her hand, Chara glared once more at the sleeping mage, fucking Lilith. The crimson magic that still lashed out from her stung and left a black burn mark on even Chara’s tainted soul. The magic was rudimentary at best, but you didn’t need a complicated spell to protect yourself from things like Chara. Lilith probably didn’t even realize she was lashing out with tentacles of crimson magic that came right from her soul while she slept. It was purely an automatic reflex, no different than when someone tapped your knee and it jumped on its own.  

Hell, the battle mage probably couldn’t have conjured magic like this while conscious even if she tried.

That was fine, if the battle mage was untouchable in sleep, she could go after Sans’ dreams. Watching him succumb to insomnia, watch him start to hallucinate was always a barrel of laughs.

On silent, dead feet, Chara took a wide arch around the couch where they slept, avoiding the crimson, until she came to stop by the top of Sans’ skull. Dead, gooey eyes looked nervously to the crackling magic, hesitating for long moments. Her hand was still burnt to a crisp from where the tentacle had gotten a hold of her, had refused to let go and Chara wasn’t looking to do a second performance of that.

When the magic made no move towards her, just crackled in agitation around the mage’s body, Chara smirked and placed a cold hand on the top of Sans’ skull. Almost instantly he shivered and whimpered, Chara drudging up memories of past time lines, of when she won. When she forced Sans to swallow his own brother’s dust. Of when Frisk had smirked down at him, with Chara’s tar like substance attached to her soul and they had spoon fed Sans what was left of Papyrus through his broken teeth. Oh yes, that was always a favorite of Chara’s.

Already in his sleep, Sans whimpered, then sobbed so softly. Chara grinned, hatred pooling from her mouth like thick gobs of drool, and _delight_ filled her.

Oh yes, that was what she wanted to see. His body shook and his bones rattled, thick tears fell from his clenched eye sockets and he grit his teeth together. He was trying so hard to keep his mouth shut in his dream, stop Chara from feeding him his own bloody brother.

Sans sobbed again, and burrowed into Lilith, and Chara laughed. Like she could save him, like she would even tr-

Lilith snapped awake when Sans sobbed a little bit louder and two things happened very quickly; the first being that when Lilith woke up, she bolted right up to her elbows and dragged Sans under her a little more protectively. Wrapping an arm around him like a shield and becoming acutely awake and aware. Like she was trying to put her body between him and the threat. Her eyes flashed crimson and she snarled as raw magic filled the air around them in a circle around the couch, up and down like shark’s teeth.

The second was a lash of magic that connected with the side of Chara’s face in a savage slap, driving her back with a hiss. The contact left the side of Chara’s face a blackened, chard mess that bubbled and oozed hatred. 

Lilith hunched over Sans like a dragon protecting his hoard or its nest, crimson eyes slowly taking in her surroundings in a methodical manner. For a soul shuttering moment Chara thought Lilith could see her as those crimson orbs fell on her and stayed on her, narrowing.

It…it didn’t matter that Lilith could see her, even if she could. She couldn’t hurt Chara, not really. The magic that protected her in her sleep was a reflex, not something controlled and Chara couldn’t be harmed by a physical attack like those blades she pulled on Flowey.

Still, when a tentacle of magic struck just to Chara’s left, she took another step back. No point in risking a lucky hit, the two she already had weren’t healing.

No matter, she had done what she needed to. Sans was waking and sobbing, and Chara was sure he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep.

Another sob brought Lilith’s eyes back to him and her eyes softened. Chara frowned, what the…?

She shifted to one side, putting her weight onto one elbow to lift the other to Sans cheek. She wiped away the tears that stained his face with a surprising gentle touch, and her voice was the same soft monotone, “Sans, Sans it’s okay. Shhhh you’re okay. You’re safe.”

Chara glared as his hiccups became soft and his eyes opened with eye lights blown wide in fear and panic. He focused in on her and his hands shot to her arms to anchor himself to her and reality, “L-Lilith?”

She offered a small smile, raw magic still circled around them and tentacles still lashed out, but her voice was far too soft, “Still here. You’re safe, I won’t let anything hurt you. You’re safe Sans.” She kept touching his face, wiping away the tears with an ease that Chara hated.

 _ ~~She’s lying!~~_ Chara hissed, but whatever magic seemed to be keeping her at bay worked for her voice as well, Sans didn’t even flinch.  

“Papyrus!” Sans gasped out but couldn’t find the strength to get up and search for him, and more tears filled his eyes, feeling pathetic. Chara grinned, that was more like it. 

Lilith hushed him softly, “He’s safe, Frisk and he are out paying with their puzzles. He’s safe and you’re safe. Ssshh. You’re okay Sans, you’re okay.”

Chara scowled as on and on it went, that little bitch cooing pathetically at the comedian, calmed him down. Her voice was soft and not once faltered until his soft sobbing stopped.

Only then did the magic around them dissipate but the snapping magic did not, and Chara kept her distance.

Lilith lay back down, drawing Sans back into her embrace, her arm back around him firmly, “You okay?” she asked softly, and Sans shook his head no.

Chara grinned, at least she shook him.

Lilith nodded, and held him a little tighter, the next words from her mouth shocking both her and Sans, “Did you know that your skull feels like smooth clay?”

Chara frowned and Sans looked up confused, eyes still watery, “What?”

“Yeah,” Lilith nodded, the smallest of grins on her face, “It’s not hard like I was expecting, not like a skull would feel like. Makes sense I suppose, I’ve seen you smile and frown and look annoyed. You don’t have muscles so it must be something else, something your magic uses.”

She reached up to his cheek again, pressing gentle fingers against the bone and grinned when the substance beneath her fingers gave ever so slightly, “See? It’s amazing. I like it.” She said gently.

Chara hated her. Hated that stupid mage _so_ much as Sans’ face brightened ever so slightly and a stupid blush colored his cheeks blue, “Uh. Thanks.”

Lilith smirked at him, shaking her head, “That’s better. I like your smile better then you being sad.” He went impossibly bluer, fucking mage, “You wanna talk about it?”

The grin fell from his face and he shook his head no. “Not in the least bit.” He muttered.

Lilith nodded and didn’t push the issue, “Wanna try to go back to sleep?”

Sans hesitated and nervously looked around, like he was expecting to find something there, but was unable to see beyond the vale. He licked his teeth nervously with a conjured tongue, but despite the amazement in her eyes, Lilith said nothing. 

“Okay.” He said gently, and slowly lay curled back into the mages side. Her arm curled around him, her hand soft on his back, and she rubbed gentle circles at his shoulder.

“You want me to tell you how I got some more scars?” she asked softly, and Chara sneered when he nodded yes. Lilith seemed to consider her options, she had lots but was trying to figure out which ones wouldn’t induce more nightmares, “So I’ve got this one on my knee from a training accident. I was working out with Felix and Ryder, we weren’t even sparing yet, when I tripped over my own feet and landed on a star grenade that Felix had summoned…”

Chara grit her teeth and watched as Lilith told story after stupid story, her hand gentle on Sans’ back as she soothed him back to sleep. Only when his breathing was deep and gentle did Lilith allow her hand to fall still and curled tightly around him.

She took one last feral look around, again her eyes paused on where Chara stood and the dead mage shuttered. Lilith could probably sense her or something but was unable to see her. With that last look, Lilith settled back as well, slowly drifting back to sleep.

Chara scoffed. That was fine, she could sooth Sans all she wanted but how long could that possibly last? How long could Lilith keep going, waking with him before she rejected him? Chara knew that Lilith would eventually, that her own need for sleep would eventually drive Sans away.

When she abandoned Sans and he was feeling hurt and alone, that was when Chara would have him. Would drive him to do terrible things to himself and force Frisk to reset. It always worked, always.

With a smirk Chara approached again, pondering which nightmare to conjure this time and reached out to touch the top of Sans’ skull. Lilith’s magic crackled around her aggressively before it traveled down her arms to crackle around Sans.

Chara only had a moment to consider this, confusion drew her brows together before a lick of pure energy and magic slammed into her chest. Chara was thrown off her feet and flat onto her back.

Chara forced herself up to her elbows and froze, Sans sighed softly and snuggled into Lilith, a picture of softness and peace as those tendrils of power reared up over their sleeping forms. It crackled threateningly, and Chara slowly stood and backed away, through the Font brothers wall and outside.

The burn mark on Chara’s chest was black and flacking away, each strike was becoming more powerful, full of violent intent.

Chara frowned. That…that could be a problem.

+     

Lilith doesn’t sleep deeply, she hadn’t in the last three centuries, but she did dream. Even before she joined the war effort, when her father had been sent home from the front to raise her. He had trained her to survive, how to live off the land and the importance of the Den and the Coven.

The Den her father came from was mostly gone, a pair of matriarchs, her father and her. Out of dozens of mages, four were left of her father’s Den after her mother’s betrayal.

When her father was called back to the front, Lilith’s care was given to one of those matriarchs. A kind old crone who lived still, if only just. One who had seen the monsters locked away underground and whose magic was giving out.

Lilith hoped she would make it to the surface once more to say goodbye to the women who had made her strong. Who made her a fighter.

Who taught her that it was okay to care about people and how battle mages showed that delicate affection.

Maia was the Den Mother that had pulled four little orphan mages together, nothing but little mutts from no particular power, and created a Den of influence and respect. Sure, individually they were impressive but as a Den they were terrifying.

As such, they were close, and Lilith was homesick. She didn’t sleep deeply, but she did dream. She missed her Den and dreamt of them.  

She dreamt of Lola.

_They were in the middle of the war, her Den oversaw this mission behind enemy lines, they spent a lot of time there and they were the current highest-ranking members of the Coven. Her tattoo fresh and itched despite her healing trait._

_The platoon of Coven mates was sleeping in the trees above where Lilith crouched on a low branch, her weight in the balls of her feet, brown eyes tinted red as she kept watch. Her Coven of such young mages were silent above her, the spell casters ensuring that any sound they may create was swallowed by a silent spell._

_Within the bubble of quiet intent, Lilith could hear the occasional shift against bark. The rare sound of a blade being sharpened. Even rarer, a soft sob that was quickly hushed by a Den mate or Coven mate. The battle mages had taken position on the outside of the trees, keeping their injured and other mage types in the centre of the trees._

_Lilith’s crimson gaze shifted to her left as Lola slipped beside her, sitting with her leg dangling over the thick branch, legs swinging._

_“You should be sleeping.” Lilith said simply, never taking her eyes from any potential threats from below. Felix was injured with a spell that had left him reeling, leaving her as the oldest battle mage in the platoon, and thus the one to keep watch._

_Lola shrugged, pushing her soft black hair behind an ear, “Couldn’t sleep.” Her voice is soft, her eyes deep emerald with her magic humming through her, “Thought you could use some company sister.”_

_Lilith managed a small smile, “Thanks.” She whispered despite not having to. Sloan, who was snoring away above her, had done her job well and no noise escaped her spell. Still, Lilith tensed when a guard wandered by below, not once looking up. It wasn’t until the guard had moved on that Lilith allowed herself to relax and allow the knot of tension to ease from her shoulders._

_Lola smiled at her Den mate and leaned into Lilith’s muscular form and sighed contently. A shield maiden raised by battle mages, and Lola craved physical comfort as much as Lilith._

_Lilith’s cheek found the top of Lola’s head and she settled against her kind souled sister. This had been the calmest Lola had been in weeks, her kind soul grieving over the bloodshed that surrounded them. After two days of simply pushing their way out of enemy territory, with such little fighting had done her some good. She finally seemed healthier. The sickly paleness of her skin finally brightening to a warm, healthy sheen._

_“As much as I love to cuddle dear one,” Lilith said smoothly, her voice had long lost most of its inflections, “You have been under duress since we embarked on this mission. Sleep will do you good.”_

_“No doubt, sister mine,” Lola laughed softly, “But we have been moving desperately through this territory to return home. One does not simply miss an opportunity to cuddle when it is presented. That would be stupid.”_

_Lilith sighed and nodded, knowing her sister had her, “Okay.” And she shifted, giving her sister what she wanted, and sat properly next to Lola. The moment she had the opportunity, Lola settled against Lilith, their armor bumping awkwardly and hard against each other._

_Still, they made it work, finding comfort against each other._

_The night wore on, and Lola’s breathing became even, and Lilith was certain she had fallen asleep. Or was starting to at least._

_“Do you think the war will end?” She said softly, the sheen of magic still settled over her body._

_“Maybe?” Lilith shrugged. “But a new one will just start up.  We’re too good at what we do and there will always been cruelty in the world.” Lilith looked a little sad, “It can’t all be fixed with war and fighting, sometimes words are necessary, but evil like this must be stopped.”_

_Lola sighed and pressed harder into her sister, “I want peace. I want a Den.”_

_“I know you do.” Lilith told her calmly, still watching for danger below. “But you have us. We’re your Den.”_

_Lola nodded, “I know. And I love you all. I just…” Lola came from a large Den of mages and wanted that again._

_Lilith wasn’t in the habit of lying to her sister, “They’re afraid of us. The others. They won’t want to join our Den when this is over, their fear will keep them away.”_

_Lola was quite next to Lilith, sad when she finally did speak, “I know. We defend them. We fight with them, for them. We’re the sin eaters used to keep their hands clean, the ones to bleed for them. Not one of them will want to be a part of our Den when all this is said and done. They will flee and abandon us when they no longer need our protection. They will only bring us out to play when there is more war to make.”_

_Lilith nodded against her sister’s head, her heart no longer clenched when she thought about being a weapon, “Such is our lives. Such is the lives of battle mages, and what is our Den. Yet, we are together, and that is what matters.”_

_Lola hummed, “Maybe. Yet, I know we will find our people. Our Den.” Lilith snorted, she didn’t believe that there was anyone else out there meant to be in their Den._

_“Maybe they won’t be mages. Perhaps they will be of the Valkyrie. Or creatures of the dark, but they are out there. Waiting for us to scoop them up and bring the home.” Brilliant eyes searched the stars and Lola smiled, “They will need us as much as we need them. We will protect each other, and love each other and have a Den.”_

_“Yeah,” Lilith snorted, “And maybe we’ll find the monsters that were locked away beneath the ground.”_

_Lola smiled, her eyes brightening at the sight of stars, “Maybe they’re our people. Just waiting for us to find them. To rescue them.”_

_Lola was filled with such kindness, such hope. It made Lilith feel at ease, the tightness of her soul loosening. It filled her with warmth, and maybe just a small amount of hope for the future._

Lilith woke up with the feeling of warmth still in her soul and feeling so homesick that it almost made her sad. She missed her Den, as small as it was. They never had found their people, but Lola still hoped. Whoever they were, were still out there waiting to be found. Not mages, that much was sure, but someone’s who needed them. 

Lola was so sure that Fate would not be so cruel as to give them peace, territory to care for but not give them their Den.

Lilith thought Fate was just that kind of cruel, but she kept that thought to herself. As far as she was concerned, they had their Den.

Lilith shifted and drew Sans deeper into her frame before falling still. The skeleton sighed in his sleep and snuggled back into Lilith, mumbling something incoherent before he settled. Good, Sans needed rest.

The sound of a door being unlocked is what had woken Lilith, and now she could hear the door opening. Lilith forced herself to relax around Sans, waiting to see if friend or foe would come through the door, and if she would need to defend her new sleeping friend.

He needed so much more sleep.

“SANS! SANS WE ARE HO-oh.” Papyrus’s voice softened when he saw his brother curled tightly into the battle mage, his breathing slow and deep.

Papyrus quietly watched his brother sleep, a little stunned and his gloved hand tightened around Frisk’s tiny one, “Oh, thank the stars.” His voice was unusually soft, not wanting to disturb his brother, “He doesn’t get enough sleep.” His soft eye lights glanced to Lilith and smiled, “Oh, tall human is quite cuddly! This is good, she can be like a security blanket to Sans!” 

Frisk frowned at her sister, head titling to the side. Lilith’s breathing was still deep and smooth, but she held her shoulders at a tense angle, ready to roll off the couch to go for the throat of any threat. Frisk shook her head in amusement, happy to see that she had bonded so quickly with Sans. Her memories, and quiet honestly, the fight had helped.    

Releasing Papyrus’s hand, Frisk padded quietly over to her sister to tap on her shoulder. Morse code had been taught to all mages during the war, and the Dens just sort of kept it up, _‘I know you’re awake. What are you doing?’_ Frisk tapped against Lilith’s shoulder.

From behind her, Papyrus hummed and tapped at his chin, “This is a special occasion. It is not every day that we have new friends to the underground. Perhaps a special spaghetti is in order.”

Lilith sighed deeply, making a show of waking up as she gently untangled herself from around Sans to sit up and stretch. Her spine popped in a couple of places and she rolled her shoulders, and she managed a smile to Frisk, “Good catch.” She whispered before she eased herself off the couch, trying not to disturb Sans, settling him back into the couch.

Looking up at Papyrus, Lilith nodded to him, “Sorry, we were uh…tired. Fell asleep.”

Papyrus nodded at her, looking at Sans with a tightness around his sockets that hadn’t been there before, “It was no…did he sleep well? He hasn’t been...” Papyrus paused, his concerned look glancing to Sans before coming back to Lilith, “Did he sleep?”

Lilith felt her heart sink and her frown deepen, “He woke up pretty upset.” She told him gently, she wasn’t going to start their friendship off by lying, “From a nightmare, but I…ah. Got him back to sleep.”

Papyrus glanced back to Sans, his breathing deep and calm, his face relaxed in sleep. Papyrus couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Sans sleep so deeply, “Thank you.”

Lilith nodded. She took a deep breath and held her hand out to Papyrus, “I’m Lilith. Frisk’s older sister.”

Papyrus glanced from his slumbering brother, to the unusually stiff human who held out her hand. Papyrus beamed at her and took her hand, “I am the Great Papyrus! Sans’s younger brother. It is nice to meet you Lilith!”

Something settled in Lilith’s soul, something calmed it and something soft settled into place. It felt like something that should have been there all along, a missing piece of a puzzle that settled into its slot. Like finding a missing Den mate.

Lilith felt a chill down her spine, the dream with Lola still too fresh. It was an old tale among mages that when you found Den mates, you would feel a sense of completeness settling in your very magic.

Lilith pushed it away, “You as well Papyrus.”

The taller skeleton beamed at her, and it made Lilith’s lips turn up in the smallest of smiles, “So Papyrus,” soft memories of Papyrus making spaghetti for Frisk bubbled up and Lilith basked in the warmth of those memories, “Frisk tells me you make the best spaghetti around.”

If possible, Papyrus’s eye lights got impossibly sunnier, and his smile brightened. Lilith didn’t see anyone smile like that anymore, and she loved Papyrus for it immediately for it. He had suffered so much, just as much as Sans had at the hands of Flowey and Chara. She had seen it in Frisk’s memories, and those memories hinted at further hurts, of a not so great past. Of unnecessary cruelty at the hands of the citizens of Snowdin, of times Papyrus was left feeling less then everyone else because of his nature.     

Yet, Papyrus still believed in everyone, looked for the best in everyone. Lilith knew mages who had not suffered half as much and lost the ability to smile.

Papyrus had a gentle strength, like Frisk. He didn’t necessarily need her protection, but she wanted to be able to have his back. Like you would a Den mate.       

“I do!” the tall skeleton said happily, hands curling into fists with excitement, “Undyne taught me to use my passion to cook!”

Memories of fire and horrible food flooded Lilith’s brain, and she managed to grin. Brown eyes glanced to her sister, uncertain and looking for instruction. She didn’t want to lie to Papyrus, but how to let him down easy?

“You know Papyrus, humans have very delicate…uh. Stomachs. Would you…would you be willing to learn to cook for humans?” Frisk gave her sister an uncertain look, her grin growing slowly in understanding. “Would you let me show you how to cook for humans?”

White eye lights blinked at her and if possible, got brighter with unbridled happiness. Thick, sturdy arms wrapped tightly around her ribs and lifted Lilith off the ground. She felt something pop in her spine, something being shoved back into place after her scrap with Sans and the breath was pushed from her lungs.

Lilith laughed as much as she could when she was lifted, her legs kicking out behind her as Papyrus snuggled into her shoulder.

“OH HUMAN! THAT WOULD BE WONDER-“Papyrus cut himself off, lowered Lilith to her feet and dipped her back to look at Sans. He sighed softly when he saw his brother continued to sleep deeply, unmoving in his sleep before pulling Lilith back up and snuggling into her. His words were much softer, trying to keep quiet to let Sans sleep, “That would be wonderful tall human! I want to learn how to cook for a human! I want to try everything!”

There was something sad about those words, and Lilith vowed that when they reached the surface Papyrus would get to try everything. She would make sure of it.

“Come tall human! We must go to collect noodles and sauce! Small human, can you watch over my lazy brother?”

All it took was a nod and thumbs up from Frisk, and Lilith was being physically dragged along with Papyrus. She had barley had time to get her coat and boots before they were out the door and back into the snow.

They walked arm in arm to the little store run by a family of buns, Papyrus chattering happily and pointing out little historical tid bits and stories of Snowdin. Lilith felt herself relaxing next to him, her smile growing slowly and that feeling of belonging clicked in to place.

Lilith cursed to herself and tried to push the memories of Lola’s words from her mind. It was hard when it felt like Papyrus had been apart of her Den and was always meant to be.  

Sans brought out the same feelings when she had curled around him after that nightmare when he clung to her when he was scared. Like they had always belonged with her and Frisk, and Lilith knew that there was no point in fighting it. Instinct would drive her on to protect her Den mates.

Fucking instinct.

It was when they were in the Snowdin shop, both the mage and the monster were pouring over noodles type, standing shoulder to shoulder as they chatted happily. Lilith would nudge Papyrus lightly with her shoulder like she would have with Sloan or Felix. Papyrus would grin and nudge her back, something in her instinct settled at the playful action. It was such a battle mage thing to do, it set her at ease.

The voice was high and cruel, and it made Papyrus sigh sadly and hunch into himself.

“Oh look it’s the idiot whose too dumb to know he’ll never be good enough to be in the Royal Guard.”

Looking up with a deep frown and a flash of crimson, Lilith growled low in her chest, deep and angry. The little, soft furred bun paid her no mind but grinned cruelly at Papyrus, his little friends at his back. It sure was easy to be brave when there were five of you.

Papyrus turned slower, his smile plastered carefully in place, but it didn’t reach his eyes.  

White eye lights glanced to the bun who ran the little store, but she was busy with another customer and paid them no mind. Still smiling, Papyrus turned back, and he swallowed hard, “HELLO BOBBY, HOW-HOW ARE YOU DOING TODAY?”

Bobby sneered, and it set Lilith’s teeth on edge. “Stars, you’re so fucking loud. No wonder only Undyne can stand you.”

Papyrus’s eye lights dimmed, and his smile fell a little while he gripped at the noodles tightly enough that they cracked. Nervousness was wafting from the monster next to her in thick waves, “UHH YES- yes well. It was nice to chat with you Bobby, but we must be on our way.”

Bobby smirked when Papyrus lowered his voice, it was cruel, and it showed how he felt like it was a victory. Lilith felt anger flare hard in her gut and magic sparked between her fingers. Had they been on the surface, in town, in her territory, Lilith would have punched Bobby bunny right in his twitchy little nose.

Battle mage instinct screamed at her to protect her Den mate and her loose hands curled into fists. She felt her body weight shift forward in preparation for a fight, her body going loose and languid. She’d do it, she decided. She’d punch Bobby bunny right in the face and make him bleed for hurting Papyrus. If he made one more nasty comment to hurt her Den mate, she was going to do it.

Instead, Lilith forced herself to relax, knowing it would likely upset Papyrus and Frisk if she started a fight.

“Oh! I thought you were something icky that came out of the donation pile. Like a fur coat that gained a consciousness after soaking in hot dog water.” She wasn’t going to start a fight, but that didn’t mean she had to be nice.

Bobby and his friends just sort of stared at her, one behind Bobby smiled and giggled. Papyrus’s jaw had dropped, and he stared at Lilith in shock for a moment, before he chimed in, “I don’t think it was hot dog water, it was more like _spoilt milk_!”

Bobby’s head snapped to Papyrus so quickly that they heard his neck crack. Lilith got over her shock quicker then Bobby had, and a sharp smirk crawled over his face with pure delight. Papyrus was _sarcastic._

“Well he certainly smells like spoilt milk.” Lilith agreed with a smile, “I mean, soap and water are really hard but I’m certain they both come with instructions.”

“OH YES THEY DO!” Papyrus chimed in happily, his voice returning to his normal volume and happiness, “BUT WHEN YOU DRESS LIKE AN EIGTH GRADER, THINGS LIKE WASHING ARE HARD.”

Bobby’s face scrunched up in rage and hate, his soft fur bristled, puffing up to make himself look larger. “You little fucking cunt-“

Lilith opened her mouth, but Papyrus beat her to the punch. With a bright smile, his hands fell to his chest over his soul, “OH THANK YOU! CUNTS ARE FULL OF DEPTH AND WARMTH. OF WHICH, YOU ARE NEITHER!”

One of the buns behind Bobby snorted, and Lilith laughed before she could stop herself. Papyrus grinned at her, tossing an arm over her shoulders and tugging the mage to his side, “NICE CHATTING WITH YOU BOBBY, BUT WE NEED TO BE ON OUR WAY NOW.”

Grinning, Lilith gave them a mock salute that ended with a long middle finger.

Bobby’s angry face darkened, hands tightening into fists and he took a step forward towards them. Lilith felt Papyrus stiffen next to her before he became loose and ready. His hands opened as though he was ready to catch a punch, and his weight shifted onto the balls of his feet. It happened quickly, seamlessly, and Lilith did the exact same thing, readying for a fight.

Lilith smirked, eyes full of crimson while Papyrus frowned at the buns in front of them, his right eye suddenly enveloping in gold. In the back of her mind, Lilith knew that Papyrus had been trained, that someone had taught him how to fight or at least defend himself. He may not want to show it all the time, but he could when he needed to.

That made him better than her that was for certain. He had power and skill and didn’t feel the need to use it. That is exactly what would make Papyrus a wonderful guard, and if someone gave him a real chance.

“BOBBY!” an angry, female voice snapped at the bun, and it snapped the tension between the two groups. The younger buns all whipped around to face the shopkeeper. Her face was dark and angry, hands on her hips, brilliant brown eyes glaring, “You aren’t bothering my patrons, are you?”  

Bobby and little friends all shifted, uncertain. Bobby’s eyes finally found the ground, “No Aunt Bea. We’re not.”

Lilith and Papyrus smirked, glanced at each other and it was like they read each other minds. They leaned into each other, giving and taking support so readily.

“NOT AT ALL MS. BEA. YOUNG BOBBY HERE WAS SHOWING US SOAP OPTIONS.” Papyrus said happily, and Lilith couldn’t help the laugh, the feeling of comradery bounding them together.

Bea gave them both a confused look and Bobby glared hard at them but didn’t dare say anything more with his Aunt’s dark look pinning him.

_Yet, I know we will find our people. Our Den._

Maybe they could find their Den here. Maybe a Den could be made up of five high LoVe mages, a kid and two skeleton monsters with bruised souls.


	7. Accidents Happen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lilith is reminded that Sans, is in fact, dangerous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers, I hope you enjoy this next chapter. There is a warning in this chapter, Canon Typical Violence and description that could boarder on gore. Please keep this in mind and keep you selves safe! 
> 
> Thank you!

Lilith stretched out on the pull-out couch with a sigh before she settled into the soft mattress. Frisk was curled against her side, once again sleeping deeply for the second night in a row. The pull-out couch was more comfortable then the floor at Toriel’s and the dinner they had was no where near as awkward.

Sans had been awake by the time Lilith and Papyrus had returned, still looking world weary and hurt, but the circles under his sockets weren’t so dark. His grin a touch more real, just a little brighter. Solid, uninterrupted sleep had done him some good, not nearly enough but some.

Dinner had been a happy, joyous experience, Papyrus had happily declaring that he would ‘battle’ Frisk the following day and Lilith had nearly inhaled her fork.

Her face paled with distress as she stared at Papyrus and the thought that it would have to be _Lilith_ that would need to step between Frisk and the taller skeleton in a fight. The thought of fighting with Papyrus, really fighting, made her stomach churn and her heart hurt. It was one thing to spar with a Den mate, or really get into it with Sloan or Felix, but a real fight with Papyrus?

Lilith felt her magic leave her with a flush of anxiety, and she felt cold and helpless. She hadn’t felt like that since before her mother had betrayed their Coven, despite Frisk’s bright smile over the table. Lilith couldn’t see past her growing panic, her hurt at the thought that Papyrus and Frisk were going to fight, and Lilith was certain that she would not be able to hurt Papyrus for Frisk. What if one of them really got hurt? What if one of them took it too far? What if…

Sans’s foot nudged into her knee, drawing dull, brown eyes to him. He gave her a lopsided grin and shook his head to indicate no. Lilith’s mouth opened and closed helplessly as she stared at him with utter heartbreak.

White eye-lights glanced to his brother and Frisk, who were talking quickly; Frisk’s hands were a flutter of movement and Papyrus watched her hands so very carefully. Sans shifted his chair closer to Lilith slowly to not draw attention to that fact; Lilith looked like she was on the verge of a panic attack and her chest heaved when she couldn’t feel her deep well of magic. The thought of harming a Den mate driving it from her like a wedge, and she failed to keep her breathing deep and calm. Her hands trembled in her lap, so she clenched them into tight fists so hard that her nails cut into her palms, drawing blood.

Sans frowned and nudged her again gently. It was just as Papyrus had done at the shop and Sans gave her a small grin, “Hey, evil mage, _chill_. He won’t hurt her.”

Lilith blinked at him, swallowing hard as she struggled to reach her magic, “But, he-he can’t. I can’t.” _I can’t fight Papyrus._

White eye-lights glanced to their younger siblings before swinging back up to her, “Paps talks a good game, but he won’t hurt her.” There was a long pause before Sans prompted, “Look at Frisk’s memories. Even when she was that _thing,_ Papyrus believed in her.”

It had hit Lilith like a title wave, the memory overwhelming her and making her feel heart sick.

_He had offered Frisk…Chara…Chara possessing Frisk’s body, friendship. He had offered support and guidance despite everything they had done. He wanted to be Frisk’s friend, even if she had done horrible things. He believed that she could be a better person._

_Even when Frisk had killed him, his body dissolving into dust like Thanos had snapped his fingers, Papyrus still believed in Frisk. His dying breath had been to tell Frisk she could do, just a little bit better._

Lilith suddenly gripped the table hard as her magic came flooding back, filling her quickly like water being poured into a bucket. Her heart hurt from the memory, and she could feel Papyrus’s dust on her hands, how it stuck to her sweat covered skin. She felt how Frisk screamed, trapped within her own body and how Chara _enjoyed_ it. She felt how Chara sought out Sans just to hurt him a little more, to use his brother’s death to break him.

Her eyes turned crimson and her hands shook as she gripped the wood under her hands hard enough to crack it, and she could feel her deep well of violate magic trembling through her. Clenching her teeth, Lilith struggled to rein in her emotions, hurt and anger waring, her fear at what could happen simmering below the surface. Her LV rankled hard in her soul, her fear feeding into her anger and the need to do something to _stop_ Chara from hurting others burned through her soul.

Swallowing hard again, Lilith tried to relax and refocus, tried to tell herself that Papyrus would never hurt her little sister, that he hadn’t done so when she was a cruel, evil thing. It was a hard thing to do, to accept that her young sister with no combat training was going to fight someone else. Harder still to trust that they would not hurt her.  

This was Papyrus, he would not harm her.

Sans’ hand was hesitant when it fell to her knee, suddenly grounding her to reality as he watch her struggle with her emotions. He watched a dozen micro expressions flutter over her usual neutral features in rapid succession that Sans almost missed it, “Lilith,” the smaller monster wavered, biting his glowing blue tongue nervously and squeezed her knee, “Pap’s won’t hurt her.” It was a promise, a vow that they both knew to be true.

“Sans.” Her voice was chocked with emotion and for the first-time fear and anxiety, “Sans what if she gets hurt? What if she..” she trailed off and wide, crimson eyes flashed to her happy little sister and the soft monster next to her.

They were both laughing at something and looked so _happy._ She looked back to Sans, face drawn in panic, “Sans, I can’t fight Papyrus to protect Frisk.”

Despite everything that had happened in the last few hours, Sans smiled up at the mage, “Hey, don’t worry Lil. I…I won’t let them get hurt. I promise, they’ll be okay, and you won’t have to fight.”

Lilith stared at him, eyes wide and uncertain. The panic stating to dissolve at the thought that she would not have to fight his brother, and Sans found himself softening a little more towards the mage. “You, you promise?”

Sans cringed but nodded yes. “Yeah, I’ll keep a _socket_ out for the kiddos.”

Lilith blinked at him, whispering, “Oh my god, why are you like this?”

Sans had beamed up at her, his soul filling with warmth as he watched her panic drain away, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m a _skele-ton_ of fun. I thought I was tickling your funny _bone_ with my _humerus_ jokes.” 

Lilith bit her tongue hard enough to taste blood to stop herself from laughing, but Sans had seen the smile she tried to hide, and the skeleton jokes only got worse from there.

Yet, his promise eased the anxiety in her soul, and she felt her deep well of magic rush fully through her muscles once more. Promises meant something to Sans, they weren’t given out freely and had heavy consequences if broken. Like a mage, his loyalty was usually hard won, and it was only Frisk that bound them together so readily. Lilith frowned, feeling something tug at her soul, emotions swirling and tugging her towards Sans. With effort, she pushed the feeling away and focused back on her dinner.

It had been enough for Lilith to relax for the rest of dinner, she and Papyrus enduring Sans’s skeleton jokes while Frisk laughed hard enough that milk came out of her nose. He calmed her enough to relaxed to hopefully get some sleep, she needed a good night’s rest to replenish the magic she had used with her fight with Sans.  

It hadn’t been much, but tomorrow would bring the fight with Undyne and she needed all the magic she had for that one.

Lilith sighed and tossed over, trying not to disturb Frisk. She was still too full of adrenalin to sleep, to anxious to fall asleep easily. It didn’t help when she thought of Sans telling his stupid jokes that had made her secretly laugh, and she felt her cheeks heat when he smiled up at her. Not the smirk or the half grin of a near dead man, but when he beamed when he told a particularly good joke.

It was stupid and she forced that soft feeling away.

Taking a deep breath, Lilith closed her eyes and forced her body to relax. She started in her toes and fingers while she breathed slowly. The looseness moved up to her wrists and into elbows, and she forced herself to not think about Sans crooked smile and the way his eye-lights lightened when he had been watching Papyrus and Frisk excitedly talk about tomorrow’s ‘battle’.

Lilith huffed and rolled onto her back, pressing her hands into her eyes, “For fuck sakes Lilith!” she snapped at herself, keeping quite with her sister next to her. “You are over three hundred years old! Get a grip, you’re not some love-struck teenager.”

It was stupid how much she felt like one when Sans looked at her softly, and the way she had wanted to protect him in his sleep. Sitting up she shook her head, trying to dislodge the feeling, like she had met him before. Like she was always meant to find him, her instincts were screaming for her to protect him.

Slumping, Lilith knew there were things she was not seeing. That instinct was never wrong and there was more at play here, despite the confusion it caused. The uncertainty and fear. It was a real thing, nearly something she could taste if she focused on it enough.

A sob broke Lilith from her thoughts, and her head snapped upwards to look backwards up at the second floor. Her eyes flashed crimson and magic crackled at her fingers. She waited a moment for a scream or the cold tingle of violence that would come into the air just before a battle. A real fight, with real consequences, she waited for the hair to stand on the back of her neck and her instinct to tell her to move.

Stillness was death in battle, and her tattoo itched with the word that was branded into her pale skin. She wondered if she would wear that face tonight, if she would have to wear that mask at all in the underground.

The breath she didn’t realize she was holding was released so very slowly through clenched teeth in a soft hiss. Her hair never stood on end and her instinct stayed blessedly silent beyond the constant hum to protect.

Lilith’s teeth caught her lip in worry, and she wondered if Sans was having another nightmare. Glancing to Frisk, Lilith carefully eased herself out of the bed and tiptoed up the stairs to Sans room, cringing at the top of the stairs when the floor creaked under her foot.

She paused and waited for someone to wake up, but Papyrus continued to snore softly in his own room and Sans was silent as the dead. Easing down the hallway, Lilith passed one bedroom, coming to stop in front of Sans’s door.

She pressed her ear against the thin wood, and at first didn’t hear anything. Frowning, she held her breath and becoming as still as she could and focused on listening, wanted to be sure that Sans really was having a nightmare. She didn’t want to disturb his sleep if she didn’t need to, he needed sleep so desperately.

A soft noise, a low whimper was almost lost to the distance and the wooden door between them, but Lilith had heard it.

Taking a deep breath, Lilith frowned, wrapping her hand around the doorknob and eased the door open, cringing when it squeaked open. Her frown deepening, her eyes became sad when she saw Sans on his mattress; he was flat on his back, panting hard while he clenched his ratty sheet in his tight fists.

A thin sheen of blue tinted sweat coated his brow, and he clenched his teeth so hard Lilith feared he’d break them. His body was a knot of tension, his bones unusually stiff as if he was in pain and trying to breath through it.  

He groaned suddenly, sounding as though he were in pain and arched off the bed with a soft, broken sob so that only the heels of his feet and the back of his skull touched the mattress. He grit his teeth harder and Lilith winced to hear them grind together painfully as blue magic leaked from his clenched eyes.

Lilith was across the room before she could properly brace herself, dropping to her knees next to him, her hand was on Sans’s shoulder to shake him awake, “Sans, Sans wake up.” Her voice was smooth and clear, and she hoped it was comforting. 

Sans gasped when her hand wrapped around his shoulder, snapping awake but trapped in the nightmare, still seeing whatever horror that plagued his sleep. Still seeing Chara wreaking havoc in his world, hurting everyone and everything he had ever cared about.

In his blind panic, it was Chara that sat next to him, on his bed and in his room, and fear so visceral punched him in the gut. With a cry of terror, Sans had the sharpened bone in his hand faster then he had thought possible, thrusting it at the perceived threat.

Lilith had not been prepared for the attack, had not expected Sans to come out of the nightmare swinging like a battle mage would have; and as the sharpened bone tore clean through her belly, easily ripping through intestines and tightly packed muscle to come out at her back near her spine, she thought it was a foolish thing to not consider. Agony burned through her, making her eyes water at the shock of it as her body burned with pain.

Lilith blinked and coughed up blood, her hand clutching at Sans’s shoulder began to tremble as she stared down at the bone construct that pierced her body with a numb detachment. She had a vague thought of _well that hasn’t happened in a while_ as her face paled with blood loss, pain and shock.

Sans trembled next to her, still not fully seeing Lilith next to him as blood poured from her middle from where the bone had impaled her, coating his hand in the hot red liquid. Lilith coughed again, blood speckling onto her thighs, and she swayed a little, “Oh.” She muttered softly, blinking at the hot, red liquid that pooled between them.  

Sans was panting hard, gulping down air in hard gasps as his eye-lights slowly came back, his face going from confusion to drawing horror as he realized what he had done. Guilt filled Lilith as she watched his expression change to fear as his mind cleared and he realized what he had done.

He let go of the construct as though it burned him, his bloody hand coming to his mouth to hide his growing terror, smearing the gore across his face.

Eye-lights blown wide, the stricken, wounded expression Sans gave her, hurt Lilith’s heart. Despite the pain that burned through her body, his expression hurt more, made her soul throb painfully. She swallowed back the pain and blood and tried to keep her voice soothing.

“It-its okay Sans.” She said softly, her hand tightening on his shoulder, the other wiping blood from her chin. Body trembling, his hand slick with blood still wrapped around his mouth in shock, “Sans look at me.”

Slowly, hesitantly, shocked eye-lights lifted from the wound in Lilith guts, the blood that was soaking into his bed, and looked up at her pale face. The color was drained from her cheeks, giving Lilith an almost translucent look but her eyes were fierce and full of crimson.

“Lilith.” Sans voice cracked as he tried to say her name, “I..I’m so…I…” his voice was muffled from behind his hand, trembled from the shock at what he had done.

She had not been in battle, there was no adrenaline to stave off the agony that burned through her, no enemy to prompt her to keep going and ignore the pain. Just a terrified skeleton monster with horror in his eyes-lights and guilt in his soul.

Had she been in battle, a wound like this would have been an _inconvenient_ for her and her Den, an annoyance that would not have slowed any of them down a moment before they tore the offending obstruction from their bodies and kept going. Sans had never been in a war, not the kind she had fought in and an injury like this likely would mean death in the underground.

She wasn’t from the underground, and as it was there was nothing to fight against and agony from the wound made her vision dim. 

Lilith took a deep breath and slowly breathed out through clenched teeth, her magic flared around the wound trying to both heal it and protect it and she wrapped the hand not clutching at Sans around the underside of the bony knob of the construct.

Wincing as the construct shifted within her body, sending a fresh wave of agony through her. Lilith’s vision black out for a moment and only then did her magic finally washed over her, numbing the pain a little. Sighing in relief, Lilith swallowed back another mouthful of blood and was finally able to think a little clearer.

“It’s okay Sans.” Her voice was stronger now, soothing and clear. Her hand tightened around the construct and she barley felt the shift inside her innards as she prepared herself to yank the bone out. “This is hardly the worse wound I’ve ever gotten.”

Sans watched her in horror, eye-lights dropping to her hand and the blood that still poured out of her, his gaze suddenly becoming razor sharp, “Wait! Don’t!”

His warning was too late, and in a swift movement Lilith pulled the bone from her torso, slimly red entrails pooling sickly onto her thighs. With a grunt, Lilith dropped the bone to the floor behind them and gripped at Sans’s shoulder a little tighter as she pulled inward as the pain burned through even her magic.

“Fuck.” She cursed, her eyes watering and her teeth gritting hard. She could already feel her intestines knitting themselves back together and invisible fingers were gently tucking them back where they needed to be.   

Managing to look up, Lilith took deep, calming breaths as she breathed though the pain and she finally looked at Sans. His eye-lights were down and blown wide again with utter horror as he stared at the blood that covered them both and how Lilith innards began to pack themselves back into her abdominal cavity. His voice was soft with shock when he muttered, “But you need that inside. Your made of meat, you need all of that inside.”

He seemed paler in his distress, and he trembled under her firm grip. Licking her lips and still tasting blood, Lilith’s voice was soothing and calm despite the massive injury. She needed to get Sans’s attention away from her slowly healing intestines and to her eyes, “Sans look at me.”

It took a minute for her voice to penetrate the fog in his mind, through the utter shock at the damage he had done and how Lilith brushed it off as though he hadn’t just rammed a construct through her, tearing through organ and muscle. Slowly he looked up at her, distress pulling at his features making him seem smaller then he was.

“Its okay Sans. It’s fine.” She could still taste blood, but it wasn’t coming up anymore, “I didn’t even lose consciousness. I’m okay.”

He just stared at her, unmoving besides the quivering that wracked his frame and made his bones rattle. Lilith knew she would be looking terrible, but she still managed to give him a crooked smile and shifted her body so she was square on with him. Her intestines were back where they were supposed to be, and already her muscles were healing. Soon there would be nothing but the blood on his bed, a thin white scar and blood all over them as proof that anything bad had happened.

Dropping her other hand lightly on his other shoulder, Lilith gave Sans another hard squeeze, “It’s okay, I’m okay.” She paused a moment before asking, “Are you okay?”

He shook his head no, and inwardly Lilith sighed. She should have been more careful, Sans had magic, dangerous magic. He was a glass canon, super charged but delicate, and he had power that could rival her own if he was focused enough. Of course, he was going to react to her suddenly being in his space without warning, touching him unexpectedly. It was what any battle mage in the same situation would have done. It’s what she would have done.

Lilith silently cured her own stupidity, she had wanted to ease his distress, not worsen it with a fresh horrific memory. Still clinging to him, Lilith softly apologized, “I’m so sorry Sans, I shouldn’t have touched you in your sleep. I won’t do it again without being better prepared.” She wouldn’t leave him trapped in a nightmare to suffer alone, but next time she would be braced for an attack.

“Why the hell are you apologizing to me.” His voice was rough and low, pain rippling through every inch of him. He didn’t dare look down at the blood that covered them, knowing it was his fault, that he caused this, and the guilt ate at him. Lilith watched as shame filled his features, and she shook her head no at him.

“Because I frightened you. I know better then to wake someone from a nightmare like that. Trust me, _I know_ fucking better then that.” Her entire Den had enough nightmares, her included, she knew better.

He shook his head at her, his eye-lights flickering in and out, “You’re fucking crazy evil mage.” He was terrified to look down and see the mess between them. “Why did you pull it out? I would have dismissed the magic. I could have stopped...” he chocked on the words, they clung to his throat and refused to come out.

Lilith just blinked at him for a long moment, “I..” she shrugged and gave him another hopeful smile, “It never occurred to me to not, not pull it out. It’s like a battle mage thing.”

Sans blinked at her, his breathing starting to slow down now that Lilith was breathing normally herself, “You’re fucking nuts.” He whispered, like it was a dirty secret between them and not common knowledge, “Lilith I am so sorry.”

Lilith shrugged and finally looked down. All that was left was a thin white scar just above her belly button and a ruined shirt, “Honestly? I’ve had worse Sans.” She looked back up at him and gave him another crocked smile, “I’m okay.”

“It shouldn’t have happened.” He sounded angry now, hurt by what he had done, and the shame only increased.

Lilith tsked softly at him, her hand moving from a shoulder to the bloody side of his cheek. She tried to discreetly wipe it away, but only managed to smear it further, “Sans, it’s fine. I’m okay, I’m not even hurt anymore, look all healed.”

Sans couldn’t look down at what he had done, his hands finding her wrists for something to cling to.

“Look,” Lilith tried again, “I know you didn’t mean to. I know that this was scary and unfair, but you’re going to be okay. I _know_ you’re not right now, but I promise this is fine. You’re going to be okay Sans.”

Sans swallowed hard, his soul churned, and he clung to her a little harder. He should be asking her that, not the other way around. Still. He wanted to be okay, he wanted to not hurt people from some nightmare induced psychosis, “Why do you care?”  

_Because someone needs to_ was at the tip of Lilith’s tongue, but she managed to swallow it back, “Because your my friend, and I watch out for my friends.”

“But I hurt you.” His voice was so small, that it hurt Lilith to hear it like that. He sounded so broken hearted, so hopeless.

“You did.” She would not sugar coat it, “But I also know better then to do what I did.” They were talking in circles, and the blood was starting to itch. Sans probably would sit here all night covered in blood as some weird punishment for what he had done.

“Listen. Let’s get cleaned up, we’ll both feel better to wash the blood off.” She told him lightly, still anchoring him by his shoulders.

Taking a breath, Sans nodded and allowed Lilith to pull him to his feet, guiding him to the bathroom with her hands tight on his shoulders. Lilith nudged the door closed behind them with a socked foot and sat Sans down on the toilet.

He kept his eyes down, lights dim and his arms wrapped tightly around his ribs as he hunched in on himself.

Lilith frowned at him before nodding slowly to herself. She stripped off her ruined t-shirt, dumping it into the trash, she had kept her bra on when she had crawled into bed with Frisk but likely would have stripped off her shirt if she hadn’t kept it on.

Sans looked up when he saw her move, his face going bright blue beneath the blood, eye-lights shrinking when he saw her torso; scared muscular back and chest, muscular abdomen that hinted at a six-pack in the dim light.

Turning on the sink, Lilith reached her hands into the water and began to scrub the congealing blood from her pale skin. Swallowing hard, Sans looked away quickly, embarrassed and a creeping shame made him fidget. Maybe she hadn’t seen him looking.

“I wasn’t always so quick at healing.” Lilith said as she scrubbed the blood from her upper arms and her belly, the paleness of her skin making her scars stand out brightly, “When I was younger a wound like that would have taken hours to heal, I’m just old as dirt now.”

She flashed him another crooked smile, “So, I’m used to having others see my body, patch me up when I wasn’t able to or if I’ve been poisoned. That fucks me up, battle mages are susceptible to toxins.” She gave a shrug, and once the water ran clean Lilith turned the water off and used a towel to pat herself dry. “I’ve also spent a lot of time patching up my Den and Coven mates.”

“Heh, so nakedness isn’t a thing you worry about then?” Sans mumbled quietly, not sure where to look; Lilith was still half naked and there was still blood all over him.

“Not really.” Lilith shrugged as she stripped off her jeans and tossed them into the bathtub before she scrubbed her thighs clean. “Hard to be embarrassed when your trying to stitch up one of the kids on your squad so you can get them to a healer. When you’re in war, things like being worried over being naked goes right out the window.”

“Right.” Sans muttered, deciding the safest place to look was staring straight ahead, looking at neither the itchy, horrible blood on his hands or the half-naked mage. “There’s uh, a couple of my shirts and some shorts under the sink.”

Lilith glanced at him and his impossibly blue cheeks and smirked, “Why do you have cloths in the bathroom?”

Sans managed a shrug, “Efficiency? I don’t have to go back to my room after I shower, it’s all here.”

Lilith laughed a little as she reached under the sink and pulled on one of his white shirts, it was a little tighter on her then it was on him and a little too short. He was still feeling guilty at what he had done, the blood on his hands a reminder and how he had hurt her. He certainly had no right to think how she looked good in his shirt.

Pulling on a pair of his shorts, this time a little too tight as well as too short, then she sat in front of him with a damp cloth.

Taking one of his hands, Lilith began to clean the delicate bones, wiping down and polishing each one until the blood was all gone. She slowly moved up to the small bones that were carefully held together with humming blue magic that made up his wrist, then up to his forearm.

He cleared his throat, squirming a little under her gentle touch, “Are you…are you okay Lilith?”

Lilith nodded, and he frowned at how pale she looked. How the darkness under her eyes seemed so much darker, “You’re sure?”

Lilith sighed as she carefully took his other hand, washing the blood from his second hand, “It’s probably blood loss. I heal quick and usually adrenaline can help me push through _that_ side effect, or one of Sloan’s potions will help me make more. But right now, I’m on my own, gotta make it myself.”

“Oh.” He said quietly, then slowly, his smile crawled back up his face, quickly diverting his hurt, “Well then I guess you didn’t have a _bloody_ good time.”

Dark eyes flashed up to him, the half smirk fighting to not rise, “Really?”

Smirking at her, Sans shrugged. It was far easier to joke about that he had almost killed her then to continue to dwell on the feeling of blood on his phalanges, the memory of the sound as Lilith chocked on her own blood. It was _his_ way he coped.  “What? It’s important to _axe_ questions like that.”

He was starting to feel better as Lilith gently cleaned the blood from his hands, and the smirk she was fighting to keep from her face made his soul sing. “You stabbed me with a bone, not an axe.”    

“Well, shoot evil mage. I should’a known that you’d be too _cleaver_ to fall for that one.”

The smile finally broke free. “Why are you like this?”

“Like what?” Sans asked innocently as she reached for his cheek, gently wiping away the bloody, gory handprint from his face, “I have a _stabbing_ inclination that you like my _humerus_ word play.”

Tossing the cloth into the tub as well, Lilith couldn’t help but smile, “Is it within my _radial_ of understanding?”

He barked a small laugh, but his smile still didn’t quiet reach his eye lights. His shoulders were still a little too stiff, his jaw a little too tense. Lilith reached out to take his hands, giving them a squeeze, “You okay?”

He tried to seem relaxed, to smile like he was okay and not thinking about how he had almost killed Lilith how he had killed Frisk all those times. “Yeah, I’m _piercing_ my way through it.” She gave him an amused look. “I’m _stitching_ myself back together.”

Lilith saw his jokes for what they were, something to hide the rawness of his feelings, and it wasn’t the worse coping method she had seen. “Alright.” She fought a yawn, feeling a little dizzy and cold. “We should go back to bed, I think we both need the rest.”

Sans glanced to the bathroom door, and the thought of sleeping again made him shiver. Lilith watched as what little relaxation she had managed to wring out of him disappear once again, and Sans got impossibly still again.

He squeezed at her hands, and Lilith gave him a gentle squeeze back while she asked softly, “What about some tea first?”

Sans looked up at her and swallowed, “Maybe some food too? Help you make that blood.”

Lilith grinned and gave a small nod, “Yeah. That’d be great.” The mage paused and her head tilted a little, “Do you know a short cut? I don’t know if I can walk that far right now.”

A little of the tension leaked from Sans and he gave her a little nod. “Yeah, I do.”


	8. Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans and Lilith have a chat that is interrupted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers! 
> 
> I was hoping to have this chapter up earlier, but it's a busy time with work and I ran out of time. So here it is! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy :)

The tea that Sans and Papyrus had was not nearly as bitter as what Toriel kept. It was sweet, almost fruity and the amount of sugar that Sans had dumped into the drink left Lilith’s teeth feeling fuzzy.

Still, to her it was leaps and bounds better then what Toriel had offered, even if the sweetness made her eyes cross.

Sans shared some sweet bread with her, and slowly her dizziness faded, but she was still too pale, her magic feeling a little dull and sluggish.

After filling up the tub with cold water to allow their bloodied cloths to soak, Sans had shortcutted them to the kitchen where he plied the mage with tea and bread.

They ate mostly in silence, the awkwardness thick between them as neither knew what to talk about, both struggling to find common ground.

“You wanna talk about your nightmare?” Lilith had asked, eyes down on her cup of tea while she thumbed the rim.

Sans shook his head no, “Not in the least bit.”

Lilith nodded and let it drop, the awkward silence falling between them again.

“What’s the surface like?” Sans asked quietly, eye-lights down, not daring to hope to hear that it was as amazing as everyone always said it would be.

Lilith paused, head tilting as she considered what her world was like and what Sans needed to hear. That all this suffering, that _his_ suffering would all be worth it in the end.

“It’s…” Lilith started, and she thought about the sun. The moon and stars. The little town of Ebbot in the innermost part of their territory and the wonders of science that had made life so much _better_ in the last hundred years. She thought of the ocean and animals, and the bad things too. People were murdered, people were hurt.

Some people, Lilith realized with a frown, would hate the monsters. There were certain religious fanatics who would hate them based on their _believes_ , there were groups of people who would hate them because they _looked_ different, others still would hate them because they were _different._ People would see them less than themselves and not see them as sentient beings.

Despite the blood loss she had suffered, crimson still flashed over her dark eyes and something cruel uncoiled from her soul. Determination mixed with rage easily, and she could effortlessly see how some groups of people would hate on the monsters, hate _Sans and Papyrus_ because they were different. Would hurt them, _kill them_ , if given the chance because they were different and not celebrate their differences.

Black rage washed over the mage, and thick fury flooded her eyes solid black, the crimson of her magic floating over the slick black rage like oil in water. Her LV was agitated at the through, the memories of Papyrus crumbling to dust, of Sans calling his brothers name before he did the same feeding into her _vice_ and not her virtue.

_Sweet Papyrus and funny Sans making it to the surface only to be murdered by bigotry and hate._

She wouldn’t let them be harmed on the surface, she wouldn’t. Her Den controlled their territory, the monsters would be safe. They would be, _~~the dark, sharp thing that made her Death uncoiled angrily from her soul. It hissed and gurgled and fed into the cruelty in her soul, into the thing that made her magic sharp and her heart seek violence. That thing, the RAGE, that made her feared reared at the thought that someone would dare touch her Den mates. If anyone tried to harm her friends…~~ _she wouldn’t let them be hurt.    

Sans looked up at her and froze. Lilith had gone impossibly still, her jaw gritting hard enough that he could hear her grind her teeth, her magic crackled angrily, and her eyes looked inhumane. Fear prickled at the back of his mind as he suddenly remembered that Lilith was a high LoVe mage, _LV 19_ , and could hurt him easily. “Lilith?” he couldn’t keep the fear from his voice, but he managed to keep it steady.

Lilith jammed her eyes shut, clenching her jaw tightly even as her magic became thick and crackled like lightning around her. Fear rose like bile to the back of Sans throat and he tried not to be afraid of her, there was no reason for her to be angry at him now. If Lilith was going to be angry, it should have been when he had run her through with a sharpened bone, not when they were finally at peace.

“Lilith?” he asked again, his voice breaking a little as those pitch black, pupil-less eyes opened and stared blankly at him, “Are you with me?”

That phrase seemed to mean something to her, she said it to him almost every time he was upset about something so it stood to reason it should work with her. “Almost.” Her voice sounded wrong. Not the usual soft monotone, but there was a hint of something vicious, like contained fury. “Just…I just need a moment.”

Sans nodded and didn’t dare move as her eyes slid shut again, hiding her demon-like eyes from view and she took several deep long breaths in and out. He watched, sweat gathering on his brow, as her shoulders relaxed slowly, how her breathing became more controlled and calmer. Natural, and not so forced as Lilith corralled her rage back into its box in her soul.

_Finally_ , when her eyes opened again and she looked at Sans’s frightened face, it was only the crimson of her magic that stared back at him. The inhumane darkness of her eyes faded back into the cold crimson and dark brown, and Sans felt relief wash over him when he saw it.

“What the hell was that!” he suddenly hissed angrily, his fear feeding into his own anger.

Lilith glanced at him, her eyes filling with distress before she looked down at her mug quickly. “I’m sorry.” She said softly. “I didn’t mean for that to happen; I usually have much better control over my vice. Your question just made me think of,” she paused looking for the right word, “Of bad things.” 

“What bad things?” he asked slowly, his voice hesitant and still angry. There were too many things to untangle in that sentence to go for it all at once.

Lilith shrugged and stared at her cup, her breathing still calm and deep, and now that Sans was really paying attention maybe a little too deeply. Like she was trying to keep control. “The surface is not always a good place.” She looked upward to the celling with a mixture of wonder and anger, “There are so many good things up there. So many good people. So many wonders. It’s safe in our territory, in Ebott.  We…the mages. After the war we all went home, back to our territories and the people who depend on us to keep them safe. For as many amazing things there are above, there are just as many horrors and each Den is responsible to keep their territory safe. Safe from creatures from the shadows and the dark places that manage to find their way into our world, from other people and mages who would dare do them harm.”

Lilith paused, looking back at Sans with hurt, “There are a lot of people are afraid of us, afraid of what we can do. There are a lot of people who don’t want our help and live outside of any Den’s territory and will react violently even if we are there to help. It doesn’t matter to them. Those people? Those people will try to hurt you Sans. They will try to hurt Papyrus and will do everything they can to ensure that any rights you deserve are stripped away.”

Sans frowned, his gut twisting at the thought, to make it to the surface and end in chains and death, “Why?”

Lilith shrugged. “Why do people hate? They fear anything different from them. They hate things they can’t understand or comprehend, and they are too full of hate to ever try. They hate other religions, skin colors, genders, our ability to use magic. They will hate monsters because they will never understand you and wont care to try. You are made of love, hope and compassion. Your bodies and souls are weaker than ours, and they will use it to their advantage. Humans are…” she paused; unsure what humans were made of.

Sans snorted and offered his thoughts, “Malice, iron and star dust?”

Lilith glanced up at him with an almost smile, “Something like that.”

Sighing heavily, Sans looked down again. His soul felt heavy, and that dark pressure seemed to be pressing back into the back of his skull once more. This thumb tapped at the handle of his mug, his smile falling a little as his eye-lights dimmed, “So none of this is worth it. The surface will be just as bad, and we’ll be what. Enslaved? Murdered? Start another war?”

Frowning at the dip in his voice, Lilith shook her head no and hesitantly reached out to him. She paused just before she placed her hand on his forearm and gave a little squeeze, “No. That won’t happen.” ~~That _dark thing in her chest uncoiled a little, hissing angrily at the thought._~~ “Mt. Ebott is in the center of my territory, and myself and my Den take the protection of our territory and everyone inside of it very seriously. That includes the monster kingdom, and anyone who tries to hurt you will know that would mean war.”

She gave Sans another little squeeze, “But that won’t mean that people won’t try. That they’ll find a way to hurt you. Try to keep it secret or redirect our anger. Or wait until monsters think its safe enough to go outside of our territory or our Covens territories and strike.”

He glanced up at her, fear still tinging his eye-lights, “What about your Coven? What if your leaders decided that they don’t want us here?”

Lilith’s smile was bitter as her hand trailed down his arm to take his hand. He let her, squeezing back even as she flipped her hand to show the thick black letters on the inside of her wrist, “They might, but I doubt they’ll want to annoy the personification of Death. They shaped us to be efficient killers and they know that War, Famine, Pestilence and Pandora will all stand next to me if it came to it. Like it or not, you’re in our territory and that makes you our people.” Sans huffed, white eye-lights falling to the dark tattoo. “And…you’re my friend. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Or Papyrus. I just…”

“Keep seeing him, kind and merciful approaching humans in hopes to be their friend?” Sans asked softly, his own growing dread twisting his soul.

“Yeah. That.” Another memory of _Chara_ laughing as Papyrus crumbled to dust flashed behind her eyes and the rage rattled angrily in its cage. Lilith took another deep breath to calm herself.

Sans nodded and squeezed at Lilith’s hand, not realizing he was doing it. They wouldn’t be alone on the surface, they’d have help. Frisk’s Den would help them, Lilith would help them. Would defend them and ensured their survival.

It was reassuring as it could be.

The dark cloud in the back of Sans’s mind thickened, his soul tightening sourly. ~~They’re lying. She’ll kill everything you love Sans. Kill her now.~~ He shook the voice away, and gripped Lilith’s hand a little tighter.

“What do you want to see on the surface Sans?” she asked suddenly, the crimson of her eyes glowed softly at him, and before when that color would have driven fear in his soul, it was soothing coming from her.

“The stars.” He said instantly, honestly. “I want to see the stars.”

Lilith smiled at him, her mouth opening to say something when he cut her off, he didn’t want to hear more about terrible things on the surface. Not when his hope was already so fragile and his HP teetered at one, “What’s a vice?”

Her jaws snapped shut with a clank of her teeth and Lilith glanced away for a moment. Almost hesitantly she looked back at him with an answer, “It’s apart of our souls. Ever person has a virtue and a vice that is there dominant trait. My virtue is determination, its my primary trait makes up my soul. My vice is the dark part, the part that takes my determination and can twist it. The part that makes it easy for me to hurt people, the part that craves LoVe and was nurtured in war.” Giving him a one shoulder shrug, Lilith looked away from Sans, “My vice is rage, and when rage is fueling my soul it makes it easy to wipe out armies that dare to harm my people.”

Hurt, Sans realizes as Lilith is looking away from him with a deep frown, is what the mage is feeling. He looks at her wrist, the tattoo stark and dark against her skin, a declaration of what she is. That memory she showed him was from when she was young and inexperienced, and there was a deep hurt inside her created by what she had become in the name of survival. Was she ashamed of it? No, but it hurt to think that Sans might be afraid of her because of it, and she was bracing for his rejection.

“I’m your friend, right?” he asked quietly.

“Yes.” She said instantly, and the voice told him she was lying, how could she they had only just met.  

He ignored it even as his soul folded in on itself. “Then you’d use your vice to protect me? Papyrus?”

Eyes still on her cup, Lilith snorted, “Yes. Of course, I would use any and all weapons at my disposal to protect you two.”

There was no hesitation and Sans nodded. He thought so, “Then. Thanks.”

Lilith looked up at him confused and uncertain, “What?”

Sans held her gaze and even now could feel the raw _power_ crackling inside of her. This close, holding her hand, he could feel the power of her magic under her skin, the thumbing of her mana lines and blood vessels in her muscles.

“I said thank you. No one else in their right mind would go to war like this. No one else would stand up to Chara.” The coldness in his neck flared, like a hand pressing around his throat. “Not like this. Not even if they remembered and not for me. So. Thanks.”

Lilith paused, a little unsure, “Frisk would.”

“Frisk would try.” He countered. “But Frisk is like Papyrus,” cyan and gold flashed in Sans’s eye before it faded, “She wont kill. Even when it’s in her best interest. You though? You get it. That not everything can be solved with kindness and mercy, that some people just want to watch the world burn. That some people, like Chara want to soak it in fuel and light the match. That some people can only be stopped in death.”

Lilith’s browns furrowed, a little uncertain and Sans looked away, “So. Thanks.”

Still holding his hand, Lilith nodded slowly, a little hesitantly, “You’re welcome.” Then she almost smiled, the corners of her mouth tilting up a little. “You know, most of my Coven doesn’t even see it that way. They’re afraid of us, which is fair, I guess. But…” whatever else Lilith was going to add died in her throat as her magic suddenly crackled.

Sans looked up in confusion at her wide-eyed expression, frozen in sudden alertness as raw magic crackled aggressively. It lashed out angrily near Sans, close but never touching him, “Uh. Evil mage?”

She didn’t say anything, but she clung to his hand a little tighter, her eyes darting around behind him, looking for something there. Her magic crackled down her arm quickly, like electricity flowing over her skin to where their hands were joined, and up his arm.

Sucking in a breath of air, Sans felt magic that didn’t belong to him smoothing over his bones. It brought a strange sense of familiarity and comfort as the crimson magic flowed from Lilith to him, flooding up his arm to encase him as well.    

Lilith’s lip curled in a sneer, her eyes flooding a deeper crimson as her eyes focused on where the magic struck behind Sans.

“Lilith?” his voice was softer, once again edging into fear and Sans wasn’t sure how much more he could take tonight.

“It’s a defense mechanism.” She said softly, if not a little coldly. “It triggers when something beyond the veil is a threat.”

Sans felt his face scrunch up in confusion, “Beyond the veil? Like what?”

“Ghosts.” She said carefully, her hand gripping onto Sans’s tightly.

Sans couldn’t help it; he barked a dry laugh, “Ghosts? They’re no different from me, they’re monsters.”

Lilith’s head shook no slowly, “Not monster ghosts. Human ghosts. What do you think happens when a human soul refuses to move on? When it has enough power, enough _determination_ to stay?”

“Uhh. It reforms?” he said softly, thinking of another time line, another fight.

Lilith shook her head no slowly again, eyes narrowing just over his shoulder, “No. Not usually, you would need to be immensely powerful to do that. The souls, the spirits, the whatever can linger.” She took a breath before asking, “Sans, do you have a lot of nightmares?”

He stared at her for a long moment, “I guess so. But I wasn’t surprised by it, there’s been a lot of bad re-sets.”

Lilith nodded, “What happens to Chara when she’s not possessing Frisk?”

Sans blinked at her, something akin to dread settled heavily in is stomach, “I ah. I don’t know. She likes to pop out of nowhere at the very end to reset the timeline. I don’t know how she’s doing it.”

Lilith nodded as he began to connect the dots. The cold voice in his head, the cold touch to his throat, and how long had _that_ been happening? The too vivid bad dreams that drove him to insomnia, or worse. He thought of the times, the resets when it got too bad and he had done horrible things to himself just to stop the voice and feeling so dead inside.

Sans always thought it was depression, PTSD with a splash of anxiety, but what if something was making all that worse? He had no doubt he had a whole host of issues, but was there something making an already delicate situation…more intense? His hand tightened in Lilith’s out of fear and distress, taking comfort when she squeezed back.  

The mage’s eyes had slipped shut and she muttered under her breath in a language Sans doesn’t understand and he feels a good chunk of her magic drain away. He can feel her hand shaking in his, and he can see the sweat on her brow as she focuses hard on the spell that Sloan had taught her when they were still children.

He listens for a rhyme of the words; the repetition of the chant and her hand gets warm with the usage of the spell. It’s different from her usual magic, it feels heavier against his bones as the magic moves from her and onto him, it tingles as she quietly chants. Sans isn’t sure she even realizes that what ever she is doing, it’s affecting him as well.

When her eyes do finally slip open, they glow with power and magic, like the gems in the wishing room, swirling crimson. Lilith’s gaze is soft when it falls on Sans, and he feels stupidly safe. He shouldn’t, not with the possibility that the creature that possess Frisk has been tormenting him in the last ninety-three runs, but he does. He does with a powerful mage that stares at him fondly like he matters to her, he feels safe when he feels her magic crackle protectively around him.  

Then her gaze lifts, and the softness disappears as her eyes go wide with shock that is quickly taken over by anger. There’s a hint of fear that he can feel this close to Lilith, but it’s quickly masked by grim determination.

The trembling under his hand stopped all together as Lilith first became stiff as whatever she was staring at over his shoulder induced a shock that was soul deep, before it faded into something else and she became loose. Like she was readying for a fight despite the blood loss, he can feel her magic propping her up, to keep her going when she needed rest; her magic is swirling like smoke among the lightning, and he can see the faint shape of her armor.

“Sans.” Her voice is tight control and her eyes are narrowed over his shoulder. “I want you to keep staring ahead, keep looking at me and come here.”

Face scrunching up in confusion, Sans stared at Lilith not understanding, “What?”

Lilith swallowed hard, eyes focused on something behind him, “Sans,” she said again, her voice edging into anger, “I need you to come over to me.”  

He stared up at her, confusion and worry warring, uncertainty bubbling from his center. He should have listened to the mage; he knew it deep in his soul.  He should have stood up and crossed the distance between them and into the safety she was offering.

Instead he turned, even as Lilith hissed and tried to grab at his shoulder, coming face to face with Chara’s blank face. Her mouth hung open, rotting and foul as hatred pooling sickly from her eyes and gapping maw. There was a festering wound along the side of her face and flaking from her chest.

Sans felt his eye-lights constrict into pin pricks as all thought process stopped and he stared at the true face of his abuser. His mouth felt dry and Lilith’s hand locked like a vice around his, her fingers linking between his own and she squeezed his hand. She gave him a little tug, trying to pull him away from Chara.

The _thing in his house_ looked back at him with dead eyes, and it smiled darkly at him, his soul shuttering coldly behind his ribs. He opened his mouth to try to say something, to tell the thing that stared at him to fuck off, to scream and yell.

Instead his body betrayed him as fear slammed into him so hard it felt like a visceral attack that churned his stomach. He suddenly couldn’t breathe, his chest felt tight and his eyes burned. He could hear his bones rattling, it sounded too loud without his sweater to muffle the noise, and he couldn’t stop himself from shaking.

Chara’s head tilted to one side as she examined him, “Sans.” She said in a way of a greeting, her voice sounding gurgle, like her lungs sloshed with liquid with every word.

He couldn’t do it, he couldn’t cope, not with Chara smiling cruelly at him and knowing exactly what she had done to him. Lilith had his hand, he couldn’t escape, knew the mage had enough magic and determination to keep him in place. Still, he shot up, scrambling away and knocking away the chair as he tried to get away from Chara.

The chair went through the dead mage, clacking sharply onto the tile floor and her smile sharped. He tried to see past his panic, tried to curse himself at giving that vicious little bitch the satisfaction of seeing his fear, he just _couldn’t_. Not when he remembered all the times it was Chara who had him by the throat, pinning him down while she did _horrible_ things to him. Things that left scars in his soul, things that made him shake at night.

He tried to flee in blind panic, tried to escape and put distance between himself and Chara. Instead, Lilith had his hand tight, and as he tried to run, she used his momentum to swing him back around to where she sat. He was suddenly being pulled against her muscular body, being locked against her chest as she pushed herself up.

He buried his face into her chest as she backed up, dragging Sans away before he was bullied away from her chest and Lilith shoved Sans behind her. She planted herself between Sans and Chara, both hands clamped tightly at his wrists and he clung just as desperately to her hips. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt such terror, when he had been reduced to utterly nothing but flight instinct.

Crimson magic crackled around Lilith keeping her on her feet even when her head spun from blood loss; her shoulders lifted like hackles as she sneered at Chara, baring her teeth and squaring up with the dead mage.

Chara’s head tilted the other way with a cold smirk, “How cute. Hiding behind your battle mage, like she can protect you. She can’t hurt me, not with her physical based magic.” Dead eyes glanced to Lilith and her smile was amused and dark, “Your little bitch is no spell caster.”

A thin sheen of sweat bubbled at Sans’s forehead, and he buried his face into her back, pressing his face into her spine.

“I think it’s cute that she held you while you slept. While you wept.” She mocked as she took a step toward them.

Lilith shoved Sans back, side stepping to keep some distance between them and her. Chara just smiled, black ooze dripping down her chin, “Cute. You think you can save him.”

Sans trembled against Lilith, and she knew just as Chara knew, that Sans was so fragile right now. He was already hanging on by a thread and Lilith knew she could never save him. Not on her own at any rate. A mage’s real strength was the Den.

Lilith’s eyes slipped shut, her hands tightening on his wrists and she muttered a spell under her breath, pulled her magic inward before it pulsed outward, calling out to her Den mate.

_Sloan._

Chara took another step towards them, the gooey hatred dripping from the wounds in her face and at her side, “Tell me, _Comedian_ , have you told her what you’ve done to yourself?”

_Sloan._

“How you hurt yourself to drive me away? How you tore apart your own soul?” Chara mocked, and Sans’s breathing hitched in a broken sob.

_Help. Sloan, I’m here._

“No one can save you Sans. Not Frisk. Not the battle mage. Certainly not yourself. I’m going to send Lilith home, take back Frisk and kill your brother.”

“Please stop.” Sans muttered into her back, voice watery and afraid, his abuser advancing coldly. He felt his mind beginning to slip, his chest felt heavy and he felt frayed and hurt.

Lilith clung a little tighter, but didn’t dare turn her back to Chara, not when it put Sans in the line of fire. She put herself square on with the dead mage, keeping herself between them, and clenched her eyes a little tighter and called harder for help. 

_Slo **an! Help!**_

Lilith’s crimson eyes fluttered open when she felt something warm sing back to her soul, another soul calling back to hers, a response to her plead. Something like her, but different in all the best ways, and that power sung back almost as desperately as Lilith called out. Something that was family. Something that was Den.

Sans clung to Lilith hard enough to bruise, his face buried into her spine as he trembled and sobbed. He knew that the thing had him, that Chara would hurt him and no one was going to save him. Lilith sighed softly when something warm touched San’s back and it filled his soul with hope. It pushed away some of the darkness, some of the hurt and he wondered if Lilith could feel it too.    

Sans dared to look up, peeling his face away from Lilith’s back he looked over and up at the warmth, like a hand pressing softly into his soul.

Sloan stood with her body facing Sans, but she glared at Chara, looking grim and annoyed. One hand pressed tightly against his spine while the other gripped at Lilith’s shoulder. Sans stared up at her in shock, stunned as she floated next to him, how he could see through her, how she looked like she was made of swirling blue and purple magic and stars.

She felt like Lilith, different but the same. Like comfort and safety, and power that came from somewhere else. Something more soul related rather than Lilith’s physical power. “Lilith?” he asked her, uncertain and soft. Tears slipped down his face even as he stared up in awe at the spell caster.

“It’s okay Sans.” Lilith said softly, finally tilting her head back to look down at him, “It’s going to be okay.” The crimson that filled her eyes was as dark a red as Sloan’s cyan and she offered him a small smile. “It’s okay.” Her gaze lifted from him to Sloan, and Lilith’s smirk got wider. “Hey.”

“Where the fuck are you!” Sloan hissed, her imagine flickering with her anger as her magic flared. “You’ve been missing for four days!”

Lilith felt her eyes go wide, “What? But. It’s only been two…” she trailed off brow furrowing. She shook her head to clear it, “It’s a long story.”

Sloan rolled her eyes so hard Sans was sure that she must have strained them.

“I suppose.” Sloan’s musical voice floated between them as she took her hand from Lilith’s shoulder to point at Chara. “That _thing_ has an explanation?”

“Honestly? I don’t even.” Lilith shrugged; her arms still bend awkwardly behind her back to cling to Sans.

Sloan gave Lilith a flat, unimpressed look as she sucked on her teeth. “We are going to have words sister dear.” She said eventually. “Long words on communication.”

Lilith grinned, and Sans felt her relax as her Den mate’s magic seeped into her skin, “I would love nothing more.”

“Hmm. I’m sure.” Sloan’s ghostly face tipped down to Sans and her annoyance fell when she stared into his eyes, and he suddenly felt exposed. It was like she could see into his very soul and all the damage there.

Something akin to sadness filled her beautiful features as she pressed her warm, magical hand against his cheek. “This one.” She said suddenly, and Lilith glanced back at her sister and Sans, “This one has been vastly harmed. A hurt so deep that I am surprised that his soul has not cracked.” Her thumb was warm on his cheek when she brushed it over the bone, and all he could do was stare. His soul twisted awkwardly, not liking the words Sloan told him. “So deeply hurt. But not broken, not yet. There’s still some fire there. An ember, with the right care will spark fight in his soul.”

Lilith looked down at Sans, then back up at Sloan as the spell caster continued. “But if the creature wins, his soul will shatter. It will not be able to take the pressure again. The heart break again. You will do well to nurture him Lilith.”

Lilith’s face was like stone as she nodded, contorted into a fierceness that most did not have towards him. “I will.”   

Satisfied, Sloan nodded before she shifted her stance so that she stood shoulder to shoulder with Lilith. A line of power between him and Chara.

As their shoulders touched, Sloan’s passed though Lilith’s solid one, but their magic meshed together softly to create a deep purple between them that crackled and flared hard.

Chara hissed and spat a glob of black hatred in the space between them, “Spell caster.”

Sloan looked thoroughly unimpressed, taking a delicate step forward to stand between Chara and Lilith, “Did you know that you look like your birthstone is crystal meth?”

Despite everything, despite the hurt and heart ache and fear, Sans still looked up at that one. Gently leaning around Lilith to look up at the mage between them in shock. Did she just…

“What. What did you just say to me?” Chara hissed, thick bubbles of tar dripping down her mouth.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Sloan said lightly, her voice still carrying its musical rhythm, “I didn’t realize you were that stupid. I’ll break it down for you. You look like shit. I mean. Wow.” And she held a long, delicate hand up to indicate stop, “I’ve seen some horrible things in my life, but you definitely have a face for radio.”  

Chara stared at them for the length of a heartbeat, stared in shock as the mage’s smirks grew into something nefarious before she screeched and charged. A crimson knife was summoned, and it glinted dangerously in the artificial light of the underground.

Sans flinched, _Frisk grinned blankly at him, charging him with a knife in a golden hallway_ , and he clung to the back of Lilith’s shirt a little harder as Chara charged the mages.

Sloan’s eyes narrowed even as her smirk grew cold. The spell caster charged forward side stepping Chara to spin, delivering a round house kick to the creature’s face with an unforgiving crunch. Chara was shoved back, crashing to the ground with a surprised cry of pain, skidding across the floor that she never really touched.

Sloan smirked down at her, magic crackling as she took a wider stance, fists up as she shifted her nonexistent weight into the balls of her feet, “Your old, I can feel it. Nearly as old us me, you have power, but you have no idea how to use it. Not properly.  You’ve never been trained.”

Chara snarled as she picked herself up off the ground, rubbing angrily at her cheek, “I’m going to kill you.”

Sloan smiled, delighted, “You think so. No matter, untrained or not, it won’t stop me from pummeling you.”

Chara yelled again, charging at the mage, once against being driven back and through a wall by a solid punch to the chest from Sloan. The mage flexed her hands, cracked her neck and flicked her wrists, summoning magic; ancient runes appeared over her wrists just like when Lilith used a gravity spell, but the shapes were different.

Chara came from the left, coming through the wall closer to Sans and Lilith, but charging at Sloan, the crimson knife swinging wildly, and Sans felt himself flinching in Lilith’s hands.

Sloan huffed a sigh, hardly impressed by the attack and with a flick of a wrist, send a bolt of magic at Chara that sent her flying.

Lilith turned, tugging Sans to stand in front of her, with his back to Sloan’s so he stood between the two mages.

Lilith dropped to a knee, even as Chara charged again and was driven back by a blast of magic. Her hands lifted to his face, cupping his cheeks softly to have him focus on her even as he began to tremble again. “Sans, its okay.”

“S-she. This whole time.” There was another blast of magic, a flash of blue that had Sans flinching. Lilith’s eyes flooded black for a moment as rage filled her before she shoved it down hard. “This whole… _fucking_ time.”

Lilith nodded, and held back the _I know_ that was on the tip of her tongue. She didn’t know, she couldn’t understand what he must be feeling, how horrifying it must be to know that even on the good runs, Chara was always there. Just in the background, her fingers always dipping into his mind to hurt him just a little bit more.

“I’m sorry.” She said instead and her face went blue in a wash of light from Sloan’s magic, “Sans, I’m so sorry.” And really, what else was there to say? There was no magic word to make this better, nothing that could be said to ease the pain that even when Frisk had tried to save them all, no one had realized that Sans needed saving.

His trembling eased and he fell very still under Lilith’s hands, and _anger_ filled his soul. So potent that he could taste it and his eye-lights faded away and he grit his teeth hard enough to feel dust in his mouth. Everything he had been through, every reset, his own death, the death of his brother rippled through his soul. All the hurt bubbled up hard, and his soul pulsed with hatred.

“Sans.” Lilith’s voice was firm and real, penetrating the fog in his head. He tilted his head upward to indicate he was listening even has he panted through his growing rage. “Use it.” She said firmly, squeezing his shoulders.

“Use what?” his hissed between gritted teeth.

“The rage. Use it. Save it for later but keep it on hand.” She told him as blue light filled the room and Chara screamed in pain and fury.

Sloan didn’t bother to dodge; the spell caster didn’t need to. She held her ground, keeping herself between her sister and the threat. She was powerful, had enough magical strength to keep the enemy at bay, laughing at Chara’s growingly desperate attempt at attacking.

“W H Y?” Sans hissed.

“It’ll save your life. There’s a time to hold on to it and a time to let it go. Right now? Hold on to it, use it. That bitch hurt you, hurt my sister and your brother. Use it to power your magic, use it to protect yourself.” _Use it to stay alive, use it to get back at her._

Sans shuttered as he swallowed, pushing the anger down, to save it for later. Use the hurt of seeing his brother crumbling to dust, the pain he endured from the other times lines. He swallowed it all down with effort.

Sloan roared in her own fury and there was a burst of magic that Sans could feel in his bones, and Chara cried out in pain while she was thrown though a wall.

Lilith continued to breath softly, moving her hands down to grip at his shoulders tightly to ground him until his breathing came slowly and softly. He found himself leaning into her hands, erasing the feeling of blood on his face and hands, allowing the warmth from her hands seep into the bones of his shoulders.

His eyes fluttered shut with a sigh, “Thanks.” He muttered quietly.

“I think the thing is gone.” Sloan declared, hands on her hips and her magic flaring aggressively, “I’m going to seal the entrances.” She looked to where Lilith knelt on the floor with Sans, and Sloan smirked, “Stay here Sister. We need to have a chat.”

Lilith nodded, still watching Sans, “Will do.” She called as Sloan floated by. Sans didn’t question what she was doing, trusting Sloan because he trusted Lilith. Lilith would not have called for help from someone who would hurt them.

“You with me Sans?”

Something settled in his soul and Sans found himself nodding. “Yeah. I am.”

He felt warm when Lilith smiled at him, a real smile and he felt something he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

Hope.  


	9. The Calm Before

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sloan finish's what she can in the underground and Sans gets a little bit of a reprieve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who has commented! We get a little bit of fluff in this chapter before some nasty things happen. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Exhaustion was something that Sans had become deeply familiar with.

It was beyond being simply tired or didn’t get enough sleep for some time. This was deeper, like something that he felt in his very bones. Like something he felt in the very pit of his soul, his very core where he should have been strongest.

Sans was perpetually tired. Always so worn out, so emotionally raw. He had known all along that he probably had some form of PTSD or anxiety. Likely both with a side serving of depression. He knew he probably needed help dealing with those things, should probably seek that help once they reached the surface.

If they reached the surface.

He shook that thought away and replaced it with _when_ they reached the surface. When they reached the surface, he would seek help. A professional to help him cope with the trauma of what Chara had done to him.

He would have laughed once, at the thought of going to talk to someone about the resets, realizing just how off the wall this all sounded. He had thought that no medical professional would ever believe him that the resets were real and that he had _died_ hundreds of times. That he had been tortured again and again by a dead child that left him with night terrors. That he had multiple memories of being force fed his own brothers’ dust and of his bones being snapped off without remorse.

Now however….

Now Sans was sitting between two mages, _a battle mage and a spell caster_ , while they talked quietly about what was happening on the surface. He sat between Sloan and Lilith as the former told the latter that since she has been gone, two nests of dragon eggs had hatched, a wrathe had attacked the town of Ebott – which was apparently not a common occurrence, and Sans was left wondering what the hell a wrathe was- and Felix had gone on a date with a mage from a near by Den that had ended in disaster.

Apparently, the light mage had taken offence to the demon that his original Den had embedded into his soul. Felix had taken offence to her offence, and the ensuing fight had done nothing for their Den’s reputation.

After that, his story of being trapped in a time warp seemed much more plausible.

Sans listened to the quiet chatter, let their voices wash over him while he gripped at his teacup as Lilith told her sister how Frisk had tricked her into the underground and the resets. She told Sloan about Flowey and Chara from what Lilith had seen in her sisters’ memories. She told Sloan of the powers that Frisk had, and Sloan’s brief discomfort of a time mage.

She brushed that little tid bit of fact away and mostly took it all in stride, humming in annoyance rather then fear, wondering how a dead mage had managed to gain enough power to reset time.

Sans was sitting closer to Lilith than Sloan, catching himself leaning into her warm muscular frame a few times. Neither mage said a thing when he jerked awake, up and away from Lilith when his eyes felt too heavy and sleep dragged him down.

“Hey.” He said suddenly, exhausted and raw, “How are you here?”

Sloan smiled down at him, bright and wonderful, “Astral projection.” The spell caster shrugged a single shoulder, “I can push a manifestation of my soul and magic into the physical realm. It leaves my body pretty defenseless, but I can interact with things from beyond as well as this world.”

Sans just stared at her, shaking his head slowly, “Astral projection? That’s not…it shouldn’t be possible.”

Sloan just smiled at him, before she gave him jazz hands, “Its magic!” she said happily with a laugh.

“I…that’s not how magic is used.” He said weakly, his head felt like it was spinning. Sloan shrugged, leaning onto the table heavily and into the palm of her hand.   

“Its not how your magic works. The surface has changed a great deal since monsters were there, magic included. You’d be amazed at what we can accomplish now.”   

Sans shifted awkwardly, pushing away his cup of tea to nervously pick at his fingers, “How…how did you know?”

“Lilith called for me.” Sloan said softly, “We’re Den mates, our magic is intertwined. Bonded in a way that only a Den can be bonded. It helped that we have been looking for Frisk and Lilith for some time, I was waiting for one of them to call out to me but even if I wasn’t, I would have heard her.”

“I used my magic,” Lilith added softly, “To call out to Sloan, for her. I can’t stop a demon like that, my magic isn’t built for it. Sloan’s is. Felix as well, to a degree. I specialize in physical battle, not a fight like this.” She looks bitter at this, annoyed that she can’t protect him.

Sloan rolls her eyes at her sister, and her ghostly hand punches Lilith’s shoulder. It goes through Lilith, but the magic meshes together to create whispy purple smoke, “Oh, stop it battle mage. You can keep him safe in other ways.”

Lilith grinned a little, glancing to Sloan and Sans, “I know. I will.”

Sloan nodded again, delighted, “Good. I’m glad you’ve made a new friend.”

Lilith snorted and Sans realized that Sloan had stood between Chara and him just as readily as Lilith had. Had fought for him just as hard as Lilith would have, and these two powerful creatures deemed him worthy enough to protect. It made him blush and he fumbled with his words, “You…you said. A bunch of stuff when…she was…”

He trails off nervous and awkward, unable to meet their eyes. He doesn’t feel like he deserves their protection, but its hard to feel that way when he sits between them and their magic washes over him. It helps when Chara’s voice isn’t in his head telling him that what garbage he is. It feels good to not have someone tell him how awful he was, what trash he was.

Lilith’s hand falls onto his shoulder and she squeezes hard. That she was right there, she wasn’t going to allow Chara to leave him bleeding and hurt.

“It’s my trait.” Sloan tells him softly, and her hand lands on his other shoulder. He can feel her magic there, as deep a blue as his own and its comforting. He swallows back the emotion hard; he’s spent enough time being upset tonight and doesn’t want another sobbing fit.

“Lilith has a self-healing trait, you’ve seen that. Lola’s trait is her healing ability to heal others. Everyone mistakes that is her strength, but shields are her true magic. Felix can open portals to shadow realms. Ryder can push invisibility onto others. Mine is soul truth. When I look into your eyes, I can see the truth, almost like memories. I can sense feelings.”

Sloan paused, giving Lilith a worried look, “Don’t listen to that thing. What ever lies she had spoon fed you are pure fabrication.” Lilith’s eyes flash crimson as magic flushes through her body, determined to protect him, “You are not what she says you are. Don’t listen to her.”

Sans ducks his head, ashamed and emberressed, pressing into Lilith’s hand. The two mages share a worried look, and he hates how delicate he feels. How hurt he feels.

“Sans. I’m going to make you something to help protect you. Help keep Chara away from you while you sleep.” She tipped her head up to Lilith, almost smiling at her sister’s angry face and how her magic rippled with protective feelings, “I need something to create a barrier with. Strips of fabric will work.”

Lilith nodded, glancing to Sans before nodding grimly, “I’ve got something that will work.”

Sans looks up as Lilith stands and slips from the room on quick, silent feet, leaving him alone with Sloan.

The spell caster smiles at him, and its oddly gentle and so different from what he remembers in the memory. He feels oddly safe with Sloan, like he does with Lilith. The same but different. She had stood between him and a demon, protected him just as readily as Lilith did.

He just didn’t feel the _same_ kind of warmth as he did when Sloan looked at him as when Lilith did. Lilith made him feel good, cared for. A fondness that he hasn’t felt before. It’s different from the safety he feels from Sloan, it feels the same as when he spends time with Papyrus. Like a sister.

“Don’t worry Sans, you’ll be safe. Lilith is as protective as she is vicious, and Frisk will protect your heart. She’s good in all the best ways. Better than any of us.”

Sans glanced nervously up at her, frowning a little, “Why are they so set on protecting me?”

Sloan’s face became a little amused, “Ah. Yes. Well, Lilith never held much belief in this sort of thing. Doesn’t belief much in Fate like other mages do, so I’m not surprised that she hasn’t said anything. I can feel a pull to you, to another here. Perhaps you were always meant to be found, to be a part of our Den. The elders say that you know when you find Den mates, you feel it in your very soul. I think Lilith feels the same thing, the tug at her soul towards you.”

This made Sans pull in on himself, hunching up a little at the table, looking away from the mage. He didn’t deserve to be apart of their Den, didn’t deserve to apart of their family or their protection. He didn’t deserve Sloan’s kindness or Frisk’s mercy or Lilith’s protection.

Sloan shrugged, her hand brushing over his shoulder, a firm presence next to him, “Lilith would say that, that’s a load of crap and she’s simply chosen to protect you. That you are her friend, that she chooses to be your friend and Fate has nothing to do with it. Perhaps the truth is somewhere in between.”

Sans looked up, feeling a bit like a yo-yo, his emotions spiking up and down in a terrible roller coaster. He didn’t feel like he deserved it but craved it all the same.

“You’ll be okay Sans. We’ll make sure of it.” Sloan said softly as Lilith came back into the kitchen with a bloody t-shirt in her hands.

She glanced to Sans before she said down and began to deconstruct the shirt, taring it into long, blood-soaked strips. Lilith had moved closer to him, pressing her knee into his femur to keep a soft, physical touch as she worked quickly.

“You okay?” Lilith asked him the same time as Sloan asked, “Why is your shirt soaked in blood?”

Lilith glanced up, shrugged, “I woke Sans up from a nightmare. He came out of it like a battle mage.”

Sans ducked his head, ashamed at what he had done, even as Sloan tutted at her, “You know better than that.” She scolded Lilith lightly, as she watched her sister work. “Hell, you know a lot better than that. We all have nightmares; you know how to act around someone having one.”

Lilith sighed as she pushed the strips of fabric towards Sloan, frowning at her sister. “Yeah I know.” She glanced to Sans, who was quiet and guilty.  Lilith nudged him, bringing startled, stricken eye-lights up to her and she felt her soul crush. “Its not your fault. “

Sans opened his mouth to tell her that, yes in fact, it was, when Sloan added in, “She’s right. Its _her_ fault. She knows better. At least you came out of it defending yourself. It says something about your self-preservation.” She had Lilith lay the strips of fabric out in neat even lines and she looked at him firmly, “I’m happier that you came out of a nightmare on the attack. That your willing to protect yourself at the very least.”

Sans felt his brows furrow in confusion, “But I hurt Lilith. If she hadn’t had the healing trait, if she had been you, she would be dead.”

Sloan places her hands over one of the first strips of fabric and presses her magic into it, “Yes. If it had been me, without the healing trait, I likely would have bled out without intervention. However, I was raised by battle mages, it has always been drilled into me to ensure that I should always have healing potions on me. I would not have faired as well as Lilith, but I would not have been unprepared.”

Sloan glances at Lilith and shakes her head, “I also would not have woken you up with out armor on or being ready to dodge at the very least. We can trace for fuck-sakes, any ounce of self-preservation would have kept her safe.”

Lilith shrugged at the light chastising, not seeming to mind it so much, “Well, mage blood is a powerful tool for spells. My blood will make the protection spell more effective. So…” she seemed to unconcerned that he had ran a bone right through her, and she had been the one to clean him up, to care for him.

Mages, Sans decided, were all walking disasters. Nothing they said made any sense, nothing they _did_ made any sense.

Magic began to lightly fill the room as Sloan pressed it into the bloody strips of cloth, glowing cyan and powerful. Even as she focused, Sloan smiled a saucy grin, “Almost like Fate?”

Lilith’s face became cold and annoyed, eyes slanted as her lip curled, “Ah fuck off Sloan.”

The spell caster laughed, leaving Lilith to explain to Sans. “Mages believe that everything is Fated. That Fate is an actual being, that controls lives, time and space.” Lilith rolls her eyes, “It’s a load of crap.”    

“Yet.” Sloan said, her smirk in her voice, her tone far too light, “There is blood on your shirt that will only add to his protection. What are the odds of that?”

Lilith rolled her eyes, “Coincidence.” She countered.

“And Felix?” Sloan asked far too lightly, like this was an argument they’ve had before.

Lilith looks annoyed, eyes filled with crimson, “Our boy was pure luck.”

“And without that luck, _that Fate_ , he could have just as easily died at the edge of your swords.” Sloan looks almost smug now, like she knows just how to needle her sister, “Yet he didn’t.”

Lilith makes an annoyed noise, and Sans looks between them confused. “Whose Felix?” he asks, because that is an easier question to investigate then trying to untangle the knot of complicated feelings that the mages and Chara have brought up.

He still needs to deal with it, he knows. Deal with the fact that Chara has had her claws sunk into his mind even when he was so certain she couldn’t hurt him. That, once again, Chara had hurt him and really, he wasn’t ready to deal with that. Instead he clung to their words and their world, trying to understand.

Sloan is grinning now, like she _knows_ that his question annoys Lilith, “This will take some time to imbed the magic properly. Why don’t you show him?”   

Lilith huffed and nodded, “Alright.” She brings her hand up and closes her eyes. He can hear her mutter under her breath, into her hand as another large portion of magic drains from her.

It’s a memory spell, Sans realizes, and this time she holds out her hand in offering.

Sans glances up at Lilith before he sinks his hand into hers and is pulled into the memory.     

_She’s eighteen and not nearly as muscular. She feels smaller, somehow. Her magical well not nearly as deep, her confidence is so much less. Being dropped into the memory is less jarring than the first, Sans is certain it has to do with a kind of familiarity._

_Lilith is eighteen and terrified. The noise around her are so loud, the ground is being torn up by creatures that look like they may have been human once. She’s horrified as she watches an older coven mate die screaming as the massive shadow like jaws rip out her throat._

_She’s eighteen and has barley been on the front for a day and a half. This is everything she has trained for, and she doesn’t feel ready for it._

_She dips and dodges the mages of the Durham, or what is left of the Durham battle mages. Their Coven was vicious and cared very little for their battle mages, they were cannon fodder and the elders had made a deal with the demons of the nether. Sold the souls of their children for the power of monsters._

_The creatures that attacked them were no longer mages, they were half feral creatures that only knew to attack and kill. The mages inside were dead and gone, having given up the fight to the beast inside, surrendering their magic to the creatures that possess their bodies._

_The ones who fought against the possession died, either by Lilith’s coven or by their own, they died horrible deaths._

_The ones who survived, had surrendered._

_Lilith tried to dodge, crying out as razor sharp claws slashed into her belly, the claws touched the bone of her ribs after it ripped through her chest plate._

_She persisted, she pushed on and swallowed her terror._

_Another beast of the dark attacks from her left, black maw taring into her shoulder, nearly moaning in pleasure as her blood fills its mouth. Sans can feel her throat raw with screams, even as she drives a sword into the creature’s dead soul._

_She shoves it off, and another is already on her; she drives her knee into his stomach with a grunt, once, twice and shoving it to the ground after the third knee to the guts. Sans can feel how afraid she is, how her hands shake even as she lifts a sword over her head and removes the head of the creature on its knees with an easy swing._

_She’s panting and hurt; magic and adrenaline are the only things keeping her on her feet. She can feel Sloan nearby in similar condition, Ryder is barley on his feet, and no one can find Lola. Panic is rising from her belly, and Sans can feel her tremble and tears are gathering in her eyes._

_Lilith can taste copper on the back of her tongue, she spits a clot of blood into the snow that stains it crimson and she scrubs at her eyes hard enough to see stars. Blood is thick under her armor, and the wound is slow to close, still bleeding sluggishly._

_There’s a moment of reprieve, and she can’t see out of her left eye, its hazy and bloody, but she’s so desperate to find Lola._

_It’s in that strange moment of a lull in battle, where for just a moment everything seems abnormally still and Lilith just breaths. She takes deep, desperate breaths and she can hear Sloan and Ryder doing the same._

_She’s eighteen,_ and this hurts Sans’s soul more then he will ever admit. She was barley an adult, and on the front line of a war, _and she is so afraid that they will all die here. That they will be torn apart by creatures of the dark, and their home will be left to these beasts and the people torn apart._

_Lilith stretches and rolls her shoulder painfully. Sans can feel her trying to gear up for the fight, to charge back into the fray despite how slowly her wounds heal. The injuries burn and pull at her skin as they heal, she winces when she feels her ribs shift back into place and there are tears on her face. She tries to swallow back the pain, she really does, and she is bitterly ashamed when she finally sobs._

Sans wants to tell her its okay, she’ll be okay, that she lives, and it takes him a moment to remind himself that this is a long bygone memory.

_Wiping the tears from her face again, smearing blood and black magic, Lilith swallowed a sob and froze when she saw him._

_He’s as still as a cornered wolf. Still and stiff, and unlike the others that have been blind attacking, this mage is different. He doesn’t fight his demon but has bonded with it, and Lilith shivers, feeling cold that had nothing to do with the knee-deep snow she has been fighting in. The beast’s face is super imposed over his own, and she can see the young but handsome face staring out at her with bright eyes of a justice soul under a maw of black shadows and massive teeth. The horns of the beast are massive, standing in proud spirals over his head._

_The mage is tall and lean, like a runner or a swimmer, and his full lips are pulled into an ‘O’ of surprise as he stares at her uncertain. The beast that is super imposed over his face pauses too, stares at Lilith with just as much awe and shock, the shadows of its eyes flicker in time with the mages golden magic._

_They’re talking, Lilith realized in horror. They were talking to each other and not fighting over the body they both shared._

_Lilith took a step back, away from the mage and the demon, swallowing hard and gripping at her sword too tightly. She tried to be brave, she really did but it was hard when staring down her worse fear. This creature had managed to do what so many others had attempted and failed, bonded with its demon, and it stood between Lilith and the rest of her Coven. Her Den._

_The creature whimpered, both the mage and the demon, and a clawed hand reached for her. Lilith lost her breath, it felt like someone had punched her in the chest and she was left winded. She takes another step back, teeth clenched and breathing hard in hitching, hard breaths._

_The creature takes another step forward, another soft cry pulling from his chest as he reaches for her, he sounds so hurt. Confusion pulses through her and Lilith stops backing up, pausing even as it takes another step forward._

_He whimpers again, looking as terrified as her, so uncertain and afraid, Lilith feels something in her soul being tugged towards the thing. Something dark and cruel uncoils for the first time from Lilith’s soul, its something protective and vindictive._

_The swords fall to the ground and the magic is dismissed, evaporating into crimson smoke. The tug in her soul is a hard pressure, like someone squeezing her chest that only lessens when she takes a step towards the thing._

_She can hear Sloan screaming for her, screaming for her to fall back and get away. Lilith ignored her and kept moving forward until she was toe to toe with the creature. In the lull of battle, they just stared at each other, justice and determination, two battle mages from opposite sides of the war just stop and stare at each other._

_Lilith can see the thing swallow hard, and she can feel fear leaching from him in thick, hurtful waves. She feels calmer now, for a moment despite the horror all around them. All the bloodshed and death. The snow is bathed in red and the smell of death sticks to their skin._

_Despite all that, Lilith reaches out to lay a hand over the mage’s chin and he is so cold. Mage and demon moan as their knees hit the ground, and his head presses into her hand. Lilith finally takes notice of his armor, his lack of warmer clothing underneath. She finally notices that he’s shaking from the elements, and from fear._

_The mage pulls in on himself, curling into a ball before Lilith, trembling under her hand and the first broken sob pulls from his chest._

_It takes Lilith’s breath away, the fear and vulnerability and she knows that he won’t lift a hand to stop her should she choose to strike him down._

_He shouldn’t be like this. He shouldn’t be so defenseless. So open to her._

_Lilith tugs the mage to her, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and squeezed him tightly, voice rough with emotion, “You’re safe. You’re okay.”_

_Sans can feel the mage bury his face into her shoulder, claws gripping at her armor desperately, his words garbled and broken, “Den.”_

_Lilith feels her soul freeze and her magic become sluggish in her muscles. Her mouth opens, she still has no idea what she would have said when she hears her name being screamed. It’s not Sloan or Ryder who are calling for her, but Lola and she sound terrified._

_Her head snaps around so hard she feels her the muscles in her neck pull and twinge, the mage on his knees following the scream. The breath left him in a rush as their gazes fell on Lola, cornered by two beasts of the nether, snarling and snapping at the shield maiden._

_“Den.” The mage gasped in Lilith’s arms, and his tone is a mixture of fear and blood lust. The demon is riding the killing edge so finely._

_Lola screams again; she’s flat on her back, her shield beginning to crack and fail as the two creatures continue to hammer their way through it._

_Lilith feels something click into place when the mage’s hands tightened on her back, and they snarl like wolves. They are battle mages, they are the ones who protect the Den, their Den, and battle mages are pack hunters._

_Suddenly they are nothing but smoke and magic, dark gold and crimson spiraling together, barreling towards their Den mate. There was no time to think, no time to feel afraid or anything at all, not with one of their Den mates afraid and hurt in the snow._

_They sprung apart, the demon’s teeth sunk into the others thick shoulder, taring the limb from the other’s body with a feral snarl while Lilith’s summoned blades went through the spine of the second._

_They died with a howl and gurgling on their own blood, and so long as it wasn’t Lilith’s or her Den mates, what did she care?_

_Lola sobbed gently, still so soft and afraid as her shield finally failed. Crimson eyes met murky gold, and suddenly Lilith isn’t so afraid. Isn’t so terrified. Not when she has another battle mage among their numbers, not when they have another battle mage in their Den, one that could stand with Lilith between the hoards of the Durham Coven and their Den._

_Despite the tears in her eyes and her magic flickering uncertainly, Lola’s soft, non-battle-hardened hands pressed into Lilith first, then the other battle mage. They both sigh as the soft healing magic painlessly knits their bodies back together. Lilith can feel the wound in her belly close gently, there is no pain and no scar._

_The mage and demon share the shocked look with the shield maiden, and Lilith realizes that he’s likely never been healed. Has likely never been allowed the soft touch of a healer to care for him, and rage and hurt swell in Lilith’s soul._

_She can feel power flow through her, can feel the rage overtake her fear at what the Durham have done to her Den._

_The soft look from the other snaps away with the sudden sound of battle and carnage. Lilith and the mage sneer, and something just felt right as they charged back into battle._

_It’s hours that they fight together, side by side, protecting each other so readily. It was as if the demon mage had been apart of their Den since they were five years old, like the rest of them. He slotted perfectly in with Lilith, he knew how she moved, how she fought._

_She knew him too, Sans realized as she pulled another mage off him and ran a sword though their attacker. It was like instinct, like they just knew. Like when Lilith ducked down, and the mage rolled over her back, so his claws sunk into the face of his former Coven mate’s._

_Hours later, maybe days, when the battle had been won when they were finally able to rest, did Lilith realize how young the mage was._

_He was fifteen and terrified. Bound to an ancient demon, who is in as much awe at the Den who has claimed him._

_He’s fifteen and so hurt and afraid and lost, babbling brokenly in his long dead mothers’ ancient language as he pleads to old gods, he isn’t sure even exist._

_He sobs softly into Lilith while she holds him, her back to the door so any attack would hit her first. Battle mage instinct demands she keep her wounded safe, in the center of the pack where it’s safest._

_He’s fifteen, and it’s been years since someone has touched him so carefully. Like he mattered. That he was deserving of a gentle touch. He’s fifteen and he doesn’t remember when someone last asked him, “What’s your name kid?”_

_He’s fifteen, and he can barley remember that his name is, “Felix.”_

Sans gasps when he yanks his hand away, and the hurt in his soul bubbles like something sharp and cruel.

“He was a kid!” he spits angrily, his own hurt swallowed up by his anger.

Lilith stretches until her spine pop’s into place, and she leans nonchalantly into the table, and he can’t help but think of how afraid she had been in those first few hours of battle. Of how terrified she was and how she feared death.

“He was.” Lilith agreed. “Our Coven wanted him dead, it was Sloan who talked them down from murdering him.”

“It was for the best, I think.” Sloan says from his other side, her tone fond while she thinks about Felix.

“He was fifteen!” he spat, phalange curling into a fist. “He was barely out of stripes! Why?” 

“Why do you think we were at war for so long? They did the same to our Coven and our ally Covens. Any children taken, and prisoners were given to demons for possession. Felix was one of the lucky ones and he bonded with the creature rather then fight it.”

Sloan sneered, and Sans catches the look of vindictiveness in her eyes, “That’s because he was fucking eight was his magic was traded to the creature. Of course, he bonded to it, he never knew anything different.”

Lilith sighs while Sans winces, “He was eight?” the mages nod. “What the hell is wrong with mages?”

Lilith smiles and Sloan laughs hard. “Yes, well. There’s a reason the war lasted as long as it did.”

“If it makes you feel better,” Lilith said coldly, all inflection from her voice is gone as she stares at the dark letters on her wrist, “Most of the Durham are dead. Felix is one of the few powerful ones left, but he refuses to align with them in any form.”

Sans’s soul feels as cold as it does relieve. At least one large threat had been removed, however it was at the expense of Lilith and her family’s innocence.

“Alright.” Sloan said softly, her voice now sounding tired as she lifts her hands away from the ribbons of fabric. They glow soft blue, runes shimmer in and out of sight along each length and they hum with the magic that Sloan has imbedded into them, “The protection spell is done. Lil, tie one around Sans wrist.”

Lilith nods as she takes one of the strips, it shimmers with Sloan’s magic and there is a flare of red from the blood magic from Lilith. Gently, Lilith takes Sans hand into her lap and feeds the fabric though his radius and ulna. He ignores how warm her hand is, how she touches him so gently as she weaves the fabric through the two bones.  

“The fabric has been soaked in a protective spell. It won’t protect you from physical attacks, but soul attacks. So long as you wear it, Chara cannot hurt you. You won’t be able to hear her voice and she won’t be able to affect your dreams. It won’t stop any normally occurring nightmares or night terrors, but it will stop Chara from educing them.” Sloan explained at Lilith tied the strip around his bones, just above his wrist. “Do not take it off Sans, the magic won’t work without it.”

Sans nodded as Lilith knotted the fabric, slipping two fingers under it to ensure it wasn’t too tight.

“Good,” Sloan said with a nod, “Do the same to Lilith. If Chara can hurt you, she can hurt Lil.”

Taking one of the strips, Lilith gave Sans her hand so he could tie the ribbon around her wrist as well, “I have also sealed your home Sans. Chara will not be able to entre here, but the faster you all get out of the underground the better. I can seal the demon here once you have all been freed.”

Sans nodded, feeling a little numb to everything even as he felt Sloan’s magic winding around him. He focused on Lilith’s callused hand in his own and he tried to keep his touch just as gentle, his bones moving slowly against her skin.

The spall caster looked to Lilith and frowned, “I haven’t much time left. Lil, do you need us to come? Just tell me where the entrance to the cave is, and I will get the others.”

Lilith smiled as Sans finished tying the ribbon around her wrist, her fingers catching his before he could draw his hand away. “We’ll be fine Sloan. I think four more mages in the underground will only upset everyone further.”

Sloan frowned, her image flickering as her magic began to run dry, “Very well. But if you need us, I will be listening.” She paused before she leaned forward and pressed a thumb to Lilith’s forehead. Her eyes slipped shut as she muttered a spell, and cyan magic presses into Lilith before it is absorbed by her body.

“What’s that?” Lilith sounds hazy as Sloan’s magic seeps into her skin, disappearing into her soul.

Sloan smiles, its sharp and unsettling, “Insurance.” She says simply as she drew away. For a moment she stares at her sister, her face softening, “Be careful Lil. Make sure you come home to us.”

Lilith grins, “I will.” She promises.

Sloan nods, turning to Sans, “Take care Sans. I will see you on surface soon.”

Sans nods, uncertain what to say, the night taking its toll on him.

“And make sure you give the other strips to important people you want to protect. Frisk, Papyrus, maybe Undyne. Anyone that Chara would target to get to Frisk.” Sloan smiles when Lilith nods. “Okay sister, I love you. We will see you soon.”

Lilith’s face softens, “I love you too sister. Tell the others we’re safe.”

Sloan’s image is beginning to flicker even as she smiles brightly at them. “I’ll be sure to tell them you needed your big sister to come save you from a scary demon-child.”

Lilith smirks, giving her sister a middle finger even as Sloan disappears, her soul returning to her body and leaving them alone in Sans’s kitchen.  The world seems less without Sloan next to them, safeguarding their souls from attack they can not defend.   

For a long moment Sans and Lilith sit at the table alone and awkward, just staring at their hands; Lilith’s in Sans, and he’s gripping it tighter than he probably should.

“We need to sleep.” Lilith says eventually, her fingers curled between Sans’s. He nodded in agreement, still feeling uncertain and a little afraid. “Do you want come sleep with Frisk and I?”

He does, he really, really does. The thought of sleeping alone frightens him and he isn’t sure if he can do it right now. “What about,” his voice breaks and he clears his throat, “What about Papyrus?”

“Sloan sealed the house. Chara can’t touch him in here, he’ll be safe for the night.” Lilith reminded him softly, squeezing his fingers.

Sans nodded, swallowing hard. “Yeah. Right.” He gave a small nod and offered a smile. “Yeah, it’d be nice to sleep with you.” His face suddenly went cyan as the words left his mouth.

Lilith’s serious face broke into a smirk at his words. “Well, I’ve never had any complaints.”

Its cheeky, boarder lining being dirty, and it makes Sans snort with amusement. Lilith’s grin widens at the noise and takes it as a win, “You doing okay?” she gives him mercy by not teasing him for his word choice.   

Sans doesn’t know how to feel, if he’s being honest with himself. He’s been hiding for so long, been at Chara’s mercy for so long, he doesn’t know where to start to untangle the feelings in his soul. What he does know is that he feels better with Lilith, “Yeah.” He tells her, offering a small smile. “Better.”

Lilith’s head tilts a little, her smile falling, “But?” she prompts him.

Sans glances away, confused and uncertain. He doesn’t usually share how he feels; he doesn’t like to allow himself to be vulnerable, it just gives _others_ power over him. First Asgore, then Chara and Flowey, and even to a smaller degree, Olivia.

Yet, Lilith wasn’t like them. She was Frisk’s older sister, a battle mage that stood up for him to an enemy that she couldn’t defeat and genuinely looked out for him. “Not great.” He admitted slowly, and her fingers squeeze against at his. “Better, but not great.” He offers a surprisingly shy smile. “Could really use a puppy pile right about now.”

Lilith’s mouth lifts into an almost smile even as she nods, “That, I can manage.”

Standing slowly, she leads him to the pull-out couch where Frisk is sound asleep, not even stirring at the ruckus that Chara had caused. Didn’t even wake when Sans had nearly killed Lilith, and even that felt like a life time ago and not the mere hour before Chara was forcibly removed from his house. Crawling into the bed beside her, Sans collapses under the thick blanket that they had given the two mages; Lilith right behind him.

There’s an awkward moment when they aren’t sure what to do with their limbs, hands floating gracelessly as they tried sort out where to put them, their legs restless. They sorted it quickly enough, remembering how they had laid on the couch earlier; their legs tangled under the blanket, Sans had his head on Lilith’s inner elbow with his face pressed into her collar bone with an arm limp over her waist. Lilith had an arm curled around him; her hand pressed flat into his back between his shoulders so she held him close.

They relaxed into each other, finding comfort with someone who understood.

“Thanks Lilith.” Sans yawned softly, falling asleep pressed into her.

Lilith hummed against his skull, “You’re welcome.”

They fell asleep, warm and safe, Lilith’s magic soaking into Snowdin a little deeper. Soaking into Sans as he pressed into her.  It was earnest and real, and Sans fell asleep easily under the mage’s protection. He dreamt, like he always did, but his dreams were soft for once. No pain. No horror. No memories of all the times when Chara won.

He dreamt of his brother’s deep laugh and Frisk’s smiling face. He dreamt of Lilith’s hand in his, her fingers linking their hands together tightly and Sans sighed quietly in his sleep.

Hours later, when the artificial daylight brightened outside of their home, Frisk woke to her sister and best friend cuddling next to her. Their limbs were tangled, faces pressed into each other as they snored softly, and clung to each other.

She frowned when she saw Lilith’s wrist and the glowing blue fabric knotted messily, and how it felt like Sloan’s magic. It hummed pleasantly from her sister’s wrist, and the more Frisk focused on the fabric the more she realized that it felt like Lilith too.

Frisk’s head tilted to one side in confusion, wondering how Sloan’s magic had gotten into the underground.

The question was pushed from her head when Papyrus bounded down the stairs, excited and happy, pausing only when he saw his brother and Lilith curled into each other. His smile grew broader, his eye lights brightening with genuine delight.

 “Come tiny human.” He said happily, quietly as to not wake Sans or Lilith, reaching out a hand to Frisk’s so that he could help her climb over their siblings without waking either of them. “I will make us some breakfast spaghetti while our lazy siblings sleep, then we will proceed with our battle!”

Frisk quietly jumped onto the ground, a smile spreading across her own face. ‘ _I can’t wait Papyrus!’_ her hands were a flurry of excited movement, ‘ _It’s gonna be so much fun!’_  she didn’t mention how no one would ever have described Lilith as being lazy and if she was this deeply asleep there was a reason for it. In the back of her mind, Frisk knew she should be worried, that something must have happened. Yet, Lilith was a battle mage, a fierce one at that and likely would have been able to handle what ever had her sleeping so soundly.

Shrugging off her worry, Frisk bound along at Papyrus’s insistence, flying up the stairs as quick as her little feet would carry her to the bathroom.  

Papyrus nodded along patiently with the little girl’s excitement, shooing her upstairs to wash up. He watched her zip up the stairs, happiness swelling in his soul. It was nice to have friends, to have a house full of family. It made Papyrus genuinely happy and he liked these friends far better than the fake ones like Oliva, who only used Sans because he felt guilty about being Asgore’s Judge, so he took his penance in the form of whatever it was they did. Papyrus had his suspicions, but it was nothing that Sans ever wanted to talk about.

It hurt his brother, that much Papyrus knew, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t like how dull and glassy-eyed Sans would come home after spending time with Oliva. How he flinched at any touch for days later or how loud noises seemed to make him jump. Papyrus didn’t fully understand why Sans let it to happen, but maybe with a new friend, a real friend like Lilith and Frisk, they could help Sans. Maybe Sans wouldn’t feel like he needed to seek out punishment from Olivia to help ease his guilt

Sans’s soft muttering drew Papyrus’s attention back to his brother just as Lilith drew him deeper into their embrace, her face pressing into the top of his skull.

Papyrus smiled, happy to see his brother sleeping so deeply for the first time in such a long time. He slept without tossing and turning, and Papyrus had only heard him wake up once in the night. He often wondered why Sans woke up so violently at night. What kind of nightmares frightened him so deeply, what could have traumatized Sans so thoroughly that he woke up screaming in the night?

Papyrus often wondered if it had anything to do with the deep sense of deja-vu he got when Sans was messing around with time and space. He wished he could remember what happened in the times before, not just foggy memories and a vague impression.

Sans seemed to remember, and whatever it had been, really hurt him and it seemed to add to Sans’s ever-growing lists of guilts that left him bleeding. Papyrus really wished he could remember too so his brother wouldn’t have to be so alone with the memories. He wished that Sans wouldn’t shut him down and out every time he tried to bring it up. He wished his brother would talk to him about it, maybe then he could have helped with his night terrors.

Papyrus wished for a lot of things.

Squaring up his shoulders, Papyrus grinned softly as he watched Lilith snuggle into Sans a little more, her arm wrapping around him tightly in her sleep. He liked the tall human, she was kind, kinder than Olivia was to Sans. Sans thought he hid it well, but Papyrus wasn’t stupid and there were just so many tells. He could see how Sans came home after spending the night with her, looking downtrodden and hurt, how he showered with enough hot water to scald his bones and would scrub himself raw.

Papyrus was certain that Olivia was not kind to Sans when they slept together, and although he never came home injured that didn’t mean Sans came home unharmed.

The tall human however? Papyrus liked her, really liked her. She was so kind to Sans, protective of them all, himself included, and she was fierce. She reminded Papyrus of jungle cats in a video Sans had found in the dump, a documentary from the surface world. The tall _mage_ reminded Papyrus of those cats, graceful and deadly, but seemed to be extremely loyal to those she cared about. Like the dog pack.

Papyrus liked her, he decided, deducing that her graceful movements and cold eyes likely came from such a high LV. Yet, she was so kind to Sans, to him as well, but more importantly to Sans. His brother needed a friend who wasn’t going to take advantage of him, who wouldn’t hurt him, and Papyrus just had a gut feeling about her. She was kind, he just knew it in his bones. Just like Frisk was kind, that sometimes, he got vague impressions of _something_ evil attaching itself to her soul.

His throat itched, and Papyrus shivered when he scratched at the sensitive vertebra with blunt fingertips. It hadn’t always been sensitive, and Papyrus was sure it had to do with the off impressions from past timelines.

Papyrus shook it away and tip toed to Sans and Lilith, his face pulling into concern as he carefully looked them both other. When he had gotten up and gone into the bathroom to clean his teeth, he had been horrified to find the tub full of bloody clothing soaking in room temperature water that had turned pink.

Worry and panic had hit Papyrus first, but when he had found Sans and Lilith curled together on the couch, Frisk beside them sound asleep, he had been instantly relieved. He had then quietly unplugged the drain in the tub, wrung out the towels, Sans shirt and Lilith’s jeans, scrubbing as much blood from them as he could before dumping them into the dryer.

Giving himself a little nod, Papyrus was satisfied to see both his brother and Lilith breathing deeply and slowly. Neither of them appeared to be hurt or in distress. The mage looked a little paler than she had the night before, but no obvious injuries.

He would ask them when they woke up what happened and why the tub was full of bloody clothing. For now, he’d left them to sleep, turning to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Frisk.

His brother was safe, the mage would ensure he was well looked after while he took Frisk out to ‘battle’ with her. It was for her benefit of course, but they would have fun at least.

Coming into the kitchen, carefully taking a pot from the cupboard, Papyrus frowned.  He didn’t know what would happen to the humans once they reached the castle, but he had a bad feeling about it. He wasn’t even certain how Undyne was going to react.

Heaving a sigh, Papyrus filled the pot with water to start breakfast. They’d figure it out, Papyrus was sure of it. If they all just worked together, everything would be fine.


	10. Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is hurt in more ways than one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello team, this is a pretty heavy chapter, so be sure to READ THE TAGS as most of them apply here. But as a quick reminder, this chapter will have a noncon/rape scene (not overly graphic), body shaming/bullying and alcohol abuse (mentions of past time lines and current) all of which are tagged in the story. 
> 
> If any of these topics bother you, please skip the scene when Sans leaves Grillbys and goes back to his room. It will be safe to pick back up once you are with Lilith again. I will have a little summery at the bottom for those of you who choose to skip it to catch up. 
> 
> Keep yourselves safe out there kiddos. 
> 
> Thanks!

Sans was warm when he finally fought his way to consciousness, content and warm pressing into the muscular frame next to him. Heaving a sigh, he snuggled into the mage a little deeper, breathing in her warmth and magic.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had been so well rested; he couldn’t remember a night that he hadn’t been bothered by nightmares that left him feeling exhausted and raw the next morning.

Huffing a little, Sans knew he had to get up, should probably take care of the bloody clothing they had left soaking before Papyrus woke up. His soul clenched at the thought of Lilith clutching at his shoulder, her hands shaking as she bled out over his bed. The wet, gurgling sound as she coughed up blood, horrifying and etched into his memory.

The fabric with her blood on it pulsed affectionately at his wrist, humming warmly against his bones, protection from Lilith and Sloan. It made him feel marginally better, not so uncertain, not so much like Chara was attached to his soul.

With a groan, Sans carefully untangled himself from the mage, stretching with a pop in his spine and cracking his neck. He heaved another sigh, rubbing sleep from his eyes, “You’re getting old Sans.” He muttered to himself.

Pulling himself out of the bed, Sans pushed himself into the void, popping back into existence in the bathroom, ready to put in some real work to get everything cleaned up and hidden away.

Surprise hit him like a punch to the gut, followed by overwhelming horror.  The bathroom was sparking clean, no bloody clothing could be found, and it looked like someone had deep cleaned the room to a sparkling sheen.

Sans rubbed his face, groaning in annoyance, knowing that Papyrus would have been the one to find the mess. Which meant he was in for an awkward afternoon to explain the blood and reassuring his brother that everything was fine. That the mage was fine, and he was fine, and everything was fine.

Another short cut and Sans found himself pulling Lilith’s jeans from the dryer, they’d provide better protection than his shorts. A cyan hued blush creeped across his face, mixing with the turbulent, odd feelings that were rattling around his soul. His shorts on the mage would have sparked a lot of unwanted questions, mainly why was she in his cloths? Yet, he still liked the idea of her in his shorts.

Confusion swilled in his core as he pulled the jeans from the dryer and it took concentrated effort to not crumple them into a ball like he would have his own clothing, folding them carefully up. It was the least he could do.

Shaking his head to dislodge the thoughts, Sans took another shortcut through the void, reappearing with a small _vop_ in the living room and the sleeping mage. She was still pale but looked better than she had last night. 

Frisk was gone, and it was too quiet in the house, so Papyrus was gone as well. It looked like they had missed their siblings battle. Great. That was just great. Another thing he managed to fuck up.

Darkness flooded his soul, his happyish mood disappearing, and he wondered why he fucking bothered? Why try at all when it always just went sideways anyways? White eye-lights glanced to the ribbon of fabric at his wrist, glowing softly between his bones, adding a layer of protection but it did nothing to change the numbness that was growing in his soul.

Great, it was going to be one of those days then.

He thought about crawling back into bed, he could have done it. Curled up next to the mage again, bask in her warmth and ignore the dark hurt swallowing his soul.

Instead, Sans gathered his fading conviction and gave the mage a nudge, “Lilith? Evil mage, you gotta get up.”     

Lilith groaned, face pressing into the pillow at her head and clutching at the fabric harder.

Frowning, Sans gave her a harder shake, “Evil mage, wake up. Your sister needs you.”

That seemed to get her attention, and Lilith took a deep breath, eyes fluttered opened, deep crimson that faded to cold brown as she blinked. Rubbing sleep from them, her voice was slurred, “Wha’ time iz it?”

The words were vulnerable and soft, and Sans found himself giving her a lop-sided grin despite the hurt he was feeling, “Late morning. We uh…I think they’ve gone out for their ‘battle’.”

“Battle?” Lilith’s sleep mused voice was starting to clear but the confusion in her tone was starting to rise.

“Yeah.” Sans said slowly, elongating the word as his soul did a weird twist that he didn’t understand despite the grey that had swallowed it, “Frisk and Papyrus?”

She blinked at him owlishly before true understanding clicked, and her eyes brightened with panic, “Shit!” Lilith tried to jump from the bed, her legs getting tangled in the blankets that had her falling to the carpet with a grunt.

Sans watched dispassionately as she struggled, he knew somewhere inside that this should have been funny; the graceful, predatory battle mage, thwarted by a blanket. He couldn’t find it in him to chuckle.

Lilith managed to pull herself from the blanket with an annoyed huff, taking the clean jeans with a quick thank you and was changing out of his shorts faster than Sans thought possible. He watched, once again knowing that he should have found amusement in this but couldn’t find it in him to laugh, as her fingers brushed the edges of the shirt he had given her.

“You can keep that.” He told her; his voice as monotone as hers. Off, and too quiet.

That was what brought her eyes up to him, her annoyed look falling to worry, “Sans, are you okay?”

His eye-lights fell, and he nodded. The fabric hummed warmly at his wrist, and he knew that this had nothing to do with Chara, “Yeah, just tired.” The half-truth spoken so easily.

Lilith frowned, reading though his bull shit with ease. She glanced to the door, her want to find Frisk so easily seen on her face, her drive to protect her baby sister so prevalent. Yet, those dark orbs swung back to him with just as much worry, “Well. Do you want to eat something? I’m sure Frisk and Paps are fine.” He could hear the tension in her voice and how _desperately_ she wanted to check on them.     

Sans forced a smile, “Nah, I’m fine.” His soul doubled over, and his throat felt thick. He couldn’t even say why he was upset, just that he was, “They should be at the other end of town. You should go check on them.”

Still Lilith hesitated, glancing again between the door and him; between Frisk and Papyrus, and him. He wasn’t worth it in the end.

“Well. Do you want to hang out? Maybe we can go get something to eat from Grillby’s?” she asked instead of leaving like she should have.

Sans shook his head again, “Nah, I’ll be fine. Go check on the kiddos, I’m sure they would love to see you.” Lilith held firm, still looking uncertain to leave him, “Honestly, evil mage. I’m fine. Frisk and Paps would be so happy to see you.”

He could see the mage wavering, considering leaving as he convinced her to, yet she still seemed to glance to him, “Why don’t you come with me?” she asked slowly, “It could be fun.”

Sans gave her a bitter smile, one that she saw but was quickly hidden, “I think I just want to nap.”

He knew that Lilith could hear his hurt, and she fluttered with uncertainty, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides, “Sans? Are you sure? We can just…watch TV?”   

His head shook no, his smile fragile and it took concentrated effort to keep it up, “I’m fine Lilith.” He was surprised how steady he could make his voice, how easily he could lie, “We’ll catch up later.” He promised.

Lilith frowned at him, still uncertain, “You have Frisk’s number? Toriel gave her a cell phone, you have it?”

He gave a nod, fake smile still plastered on his face, “Sure do.”

Lilith glanced to the door, and will a huff she asked him, “And you’ll call if you need us?”

“Sure will.” He lied. He’d rather light himself on fire then call Frisk to come help him when he was feeling poorly. He had other outlets for that.

Lilith hung on a moment later, stuck with indecision and wanting to satisfy her instinct and protect everyone. She finally huffed at him and nodded, “Okay. I’ll catch you later then.”

Sans nodded, his soul still feeling hurt and bruised, maybe just sad he guessed, “For sure evil mage.”

Lilith had given him one last worried look before she pulled on her coat and boots then disappeared outside of the door in search of their younger siblings.

When the door clicked shut behind her, Sans waited a long moment to ensure she didn’t come back before he pulled in on himself and allowed his knees to give out beneath him. He wrapped his arms around his torso, curling into a small ball and tears gathered bitterly at the corners of his eyes.

His magic flickered with his anxiety, crackling around him with his distress and he fought to keep his breathing soft and normal. His chest hitched and he swallowed a sob. He couldn’t say why he was so upset, or why it felt like his soul was filled with such sadness, only that it was.

He hated it. He hated that some days, most days, he just felt like nothing mattered. That he didn’t matter, and that his heart just hurt for no apparent reason. Maybe it had to do with seeing all his friends and family turned to dust. Or maybe it was the memories of being tortured by a thing that wore his friends face. Or maybe it was the memories of Chara forcing his face into his brother’s dust.

Hard to say really.

He swallowed his pain, buried it down as hard and deep as he could, scrubbing the tears from his eyes. He struggled to get his mask back in place, to put his smirk back where it belonged, taking a deep breath before pushing himself to his feet.

His magic settled back into his bones, and Sans allowed himself to slouch lazily as though nothing was wrong. He took time to practice his smirk, ensuring that it wasn’t going to fall. He disappeared from his home with a _vop_ of displaced air and Sans took a short cut to Grillby’s. He needed something, relief of some kind. Any kind.

He appeared in the bar with little more than a gentle step into the bar and Grillby looked up a little sadly at him as he slid inside. The fire elemental frowning at him as Sans took his usual seat, glancing behind him, “No mage?” he asked, his twang reassuring to Sans.

Sans managed to smirk, “Nah. She’s gone to play with Frisk and Papyrus. Keep them safe and what not.”

Grillby watched him with a frown, head titling, “Not going with ‘em?”

Sans shook his head, eyeing the ketchup on the counter but his eye lights kept glancing to the harder liquors at the bar, “Nah. Don’t want to cramp my bro’s style.”

Grillby shrugged, glancing down at the glass he was cleaning, “Maybe ya should? I bet Papyrus would enjoy it.”

Sans’s soul pulsed in hurt at the truth of it, because both Frisk and Papyrus would have been thrilled to have him there with Lilith. His smirk waivered for a moment before he pushed it back into place, “Not today. Maybe just my usual Grills.”

Grillby sighed, a little sadly even as he put a bottle of ketchup on the counter for Sans. He nodded his thanks, even as his eye-lights glanced to the wall of bottles at Grillby’s back.

At least they had Lilith with them, the mage would keep them safe. Taking a swig from the bottle, Sans kept the sigh contained, wishing he could feel something more then just unhappy.  Slumping into the bar, he took another mouthful of ketchup and fought with himself to not look sadly at the alcohol. He hadn’t drank much of that since that _one_ time line, and he didn’t want to relive that again.

Still, it helped him cope with the pain he felt. Made him feel a little better for a short time. He looked at the table and took another swig from his bottle, and it tasted like ash in his mouth. He took no joy from it, simply went through the motions like he did in every timeline.

Only, this one was different. Lilith was as new variable, one that Sans wasn’t sure how was going to play out. He liked her, he thought. She was protective of Frisk and Papyrus, which made her okay in his book, but she was fierce enough to not be afraid of Chara when she probably should be.

The fabric pulsed warmly at his wrist and he smiled despite himself. He didn’t feel better per say, but he didn’t feel alone. He still felt grey and wounded, vulnerable if Sans was being honest with himself. He was afraid, afraid to hope. Afraid that things wouldn’t change, that he would be stuck here, and now so would Lilith. He didn’t like feeling like this, feeling so afraid and unsure.  

Everything was so confusing, and he wished he knew what to do. He wished he could feel better so he could be more useful to the evil mage, _the baby mage,_ and his brother. He knew he was only going to hurt them, and it was better if he kept his distance.

Still, the memory of the mage holding him while he was hurting was a confusing but pleasant one.

He wished he had gone with Lilith suddenly, despite feeling grey and dull. At least he could be a sad lump with his friends.

“Heya Sansy.” Olivia slurred as she slid into the seat next to him, and Sans frowned at her, pity settling uncomfortably in his chest, right alongside the horrible grey feeling.

He could remember long ago, when they had been young that Oliva had been his friend. Beautiful and close to her sisters, as fierce to protect her family as Bonnie. Her words had been graceful, and she had been Asgore’s speech writer; he had stolen as much from her as Asgore had taken from him. 

Now, years of pain and alcohol had stolen Oliva’s beauty, her body swollen from years of abuse in her vain attempt to find a way to cope. Her words were slurred and no longer graceful, her movements staggered and sloppy. Her relationship with her family long fractured when her drinking had gotten so far out of control.

Sans tried to plaster on a smile for her, despite how much it hurt him to do so. Sometimes burying the pain was just as awful as the agony itself. Sometimes Sans saw himself in Oliva and thought of the few times it had been him who was beyond help, when he tried to find peace at the bottom of the bottle.

It could have just as easily been him who was stumbling drunk and alone though Snowdin, and not his childhood friend.

“Heya ‘Liva.” He greeted despite the way his soul bottomed out.

Oliva laughed at the childhood nickname, her movements jerky and shaky even as she smiled at him, “No bodyguard today?” the bitterness in her voice caught Sans off guard, made him frown at her sudden sharpness.

“Bodyguard?” he asked slowly, uncertain what she was talking about.

Oliva pouted at him, “The pretty girl you was with yesterday.” She slurred, he words rough and inelegant, “Tall, long hair, _mean_ eyes. Glaring at everyone when you was all sad. Acting like you was hers or something.”

Sans just stared at her for a long moment, not entirely following her until it clicked in his head. “Lilith?” he asked, surprise breaking through the dim grey of his soul for a moment before he felt like he was drowning again.

Lilith had been watching out for him? Something like a kernel of warmth curled in his soul, pushing away some of the hurt that had settled in. It would make sense that Lilith would have been watching out for him, in the short time he had known her, it was all she had done.

“She’s a friend.” He told Oliva easily, despite how the thought that he had a real _adult friend,_ who wanted nothing in return made him feel…not so grey. Even when jealousy thundered across Oliva’s face.

Still looking angry, her soft paw reached out to touch his arm, and the smile fell from Sans’s mouth. “Thought I was your friend.” She pouted a fake frown, trying to look sad.

Sans squirmed uncomfortably, eye lights glancing away, “You are.” He said slowly, glancing to Grillby, but he was talking to a Royal Guard about the humans in the underground and doing a convincing job of ensuring the guard had no idea they were in Snowdin.

Papyrus must have ensured they were nowhere near the entrance gate at Waterfall, and Sans found himself smiling. His brother was the greatest, he’d protect the mages as much as they looked after them. Like a family.

Oliva pressed forward, and Sans felt himself stiffen despite the amount of times they had fooled around. Something akin to horror suddenly flared in his chest as her other paw pressed into his thigh, and he glanced wildly to Grillby, feeling despair when he saw his friend still engrossed in conversation.

Swallowing hard, Sans pushed Oliva back gently, fighting to contain his LV and the Judge from his soul, “Not now ‘Liva. I’m not in the mood.”

Something dark crossed Oliva’s face, angry and mulish, “Didn’t think ya was going human Sans. We’re at war, isn’t we?” Her lavender eyes glanced to the Royal Guard, sparkling with a vindictiveness that he hadn’t seen from her even as he sputtered, “Didn’t think ya would like humans, not after what ya did for Asgore. How many was it Sans? Five?” 

Hurt swelled his soul, and his eye-lights disappeared as he grit his teeth, “Six.” He said bitterly, angrily and despite the hurt, his underlying anger fluttered bitterly in his soul. An old wound that had never healed right and still bled when pressed just the right way.

“Six.” She purred, her thumb brushing at his thigh, pulling his shorts up a little so she could touch the sensitive bone, making him cringe inwardly. He fought to keep his hands still, and he knew he could leave. He could shove her aside and leave. Go find Papyrus and Lilith, spend the day with Frisk. He could walk with them through Waterfall, ensure they make it through safe. He could…

“I wonder if the girl would be upset by that? Six little souls, all for Asgore.” Lavender eyes glanced up at him from under her brow, and Sans could have killed her right then and there. It was her relationship to him that saved her life, even if she didn’t know it. Lilith may have been a killer on the surface, was so much more brutally efficient at it then he was, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t.

“I did it for the underground.” He hissed angrily, his LV bubbling hotly, and he fought to tamper it down. He had, after all, earned ever blood-soaked bit of LV he had. He may have experienced the horror of war through Lilith’s memory, but that didn’t mean he was innocent, “I think you’d better get your hand off me Oliva.” He told her coldly, his sadness fading into anger. It was a better feeling to embrace then the fog of the grey.

Oliva’s smile widened, lifting high at the corners of her mouth into something cruel, “I wonder what the girl would say? If she knew you were a killer Sans, do you think she’d be so protective of you?” he glanced to the guard still talking to Grillby, her smile curling into something cruel, “Or perhaps the guard would be interested in knowing where your little friends are hiding. How do you think Captain Undyne will react to such betrayal Sans?”

He hesitated, uncertain; part of him was sure that Lilith would understand, that if anyone could understand, it would be the battle mage who had been at war for so long. She had to understand what being pressed into a corner and not having a choice felt like, to follow someone else’s order no matter how terrible. It had been for the greater good. It had been all for Monster kind.

Sans face darkened, because in the end, what if she didn’t? Or worse, what if the guard caught her and Frisk? “What do you want?”

Olivia pressed forward, her smile softened a little in victory, “Oh don’t be like that Sans. Come on, we have fun right?”

It was hard to remember what Oliva was like when they had been kids, that soft, gentle soul long gone, “Didn’t know you were into entrapment. Gross.”

She didn’t seem to be bothered by his words, and their friendship didn’t seem to stop her, “Didn’t know you were into humans.” She slurred back, reeking of alcohol and cruel intent, “Gross.”

He glared hard, fighting to stay still and didn’t bother to hold back the aggression from his magic as it crackled to life at his fingers. Oliva didn’t seem bothered as she leaned forward, pressing her mouth against his teeth in a slow kiss. He stiffened, didn’t respond back as her lips moved slowly against his mouth and his fists curled tightly in his lap.

“Come on Sans, you know I’ll make you feel good. Way better then some creepy, stink’n human.” She spoke softly against his teeth, her hand cupping his crotch boldly and he finally cringed away from her. There was no joke, no pun to make this remotely better. Nothing to make what was about to happen okay.

He gave one last, fruitless look to Grillby and was bitterly disappointed when he was still engrossed in his conversation with one of the guards from Hotland, and his breathing hitched as Oliva pressed her hand more firmly into him, rubbing his pelvis through his shorts.

She chuckled, mistaking his hiccup of fear as a gasp of pleasure, simply hearing what she wanted to hear, “Come on Sans, you know a short cut.”

Her mouth was on his again, and he couldn’t kiss her back. His eye lights were blown wide, the hurt in his soul doubling as she moved against him. She growled in frustration at his lack of attention, her mouth moving against his own bitterly, “Take me home or I tell the girl how much blood ya have on your hands.”

Anger and the horrid empty grey and fear all gnawed at his soul, and in the end, Sans grasped her hips hard enough to bruise, and with a snarl threw himself into a short cut. He dragged her through the void, slowing down just to make her afraid before they popped back into existence in his room. After all, if he was going to be afraid, she should be too.

Olivia gasped as they landed on his naked bed, all the sheets gone and the pillows downstairs where he had been held and protected by Lilith last night. He could still go, leave and flee to Lilith and his brother. They’d keep her away from him, hell Lilith would probably kill her for what was about to happen to him.

Yet, the terror of her knowing what he had done, what he had done for Asgore pinned him to the bed. The terror of Lilith and Frisk knowing the truth, of what he had done kept him from fleeing.

He winced when she ground down onto him, pressing her weight into him, pressing him flat on his back with a groan even as she reached for the bottom of her shirt, pulling it over her head roughly.

“Take off ya cloths.” She ordered, her voice sultry and saucy as if she had any right.

He scowled, tugging his shirt off to toss off to the side, concentrating on his magic, forcing it into his pelvis even as cold and unaroused as he was. He could do this; he was sure of it. He felt his magic, slow and sluggish gathering in his pelvis, leeching from his bones, bleeding like a wound.   

Oliva tutted from above him, looking disappointed at his bare ribcage, “What? No soul?”

It took a moment, and his magic flickered with his anxiety, but he managed to press the knot of unformed magic downward to form something for her to play with. He bucked up into her, harder then he would have if he wanted to be there, had he been aiming to give pleasure. “No.” Sans told her flatly, voice cold when he referred to his soul. He wouldn’t let her touch that part of him, not way in hell. She could have his body all she wanted; he wasn’t giving up his soul to her.

She tutted, pale lavender eyes suddenly widening as she glanced over to the side of his bed, “Sans is that blood?”  

His head tilted, and he almost smiled at the dry, ruddy stain on his bed. It had been forgotten in their haste to clean themselves and dealing with Chara, Lilith’s blood now stained his mattress a dark dry red that almost shimmered with residual magic. The fabric at his wrist started to hum against his bones again, reassuring and light.

“Do you really care?” he asked her flatly, anger simmering beneath the surface.

Oliva stared at it for a long time, considering it with a look of disgust, and he hoped she would leave. “No.” she huffed out finally and Sans couldn’t help but feel disappointed. “Take your pants off.”

She lifted off him just enough for him to shimmy out of his shorts as she did the same, a wave of disgust washed through him and he shoved it down hard. It was fine, he had done this before, allowed Oliva to find her release, some measure of comfort from his body. He could do it again.

That thought didn’t stop another wave of hurt and hatred shimmer through him as Oliva chortled at his naked form, her fingers reached between his femurs, brushing the soft folds just beneath his flaccid length, “You was always such an odd little skeleton Sans. I bet if there was any others of your kind left, they’d all have a favored body type. Not you though, so weird, so unnatural.”

He looked away at her words, gritting his teeth even as the barbed words landed, and he hated her even more. It left him bleeding and hurt, and he wondered what had happened to his kindhearted friend? Had she always been this way?

He hissed in pain as she sunk two fingers into him, dry and unprepared, his body flinching, trying to get away. He felt his magic stretch painfully around the intrusion, felt his magic burn and become raw with underprepared use. She had not tried to prepare his magic in anyways, thought foreplay with ‘a bag of bones’ was a waste of time since she couldn’t hurt his flesh. Oliva never considered that she would hurt him through his magic, that echo flesh could be just as delicate as her own flesh and needed just as much care.

Uncaringly, she laughed as she turned around on his lap, looking down between his legs, her other paw wrapping around his length almost painfully as she began to pump him slowly. Sans cringed as the first sparks of pleasure began to awaken his magic, his length beginning to harden between his legs as his body reacted to the physical stimuli and he hated himself. Hated that his body would react to her touches even when his mind reeled, and his soul felt sick.  

Pain and discomfort swirled, and he forced himself to relax, to let the grey take over and this would all be over so much sooner. Just go onto auto pilot and let his body react, it would be easier, and Lilith would never know what he had done.

The sadness came back slowly, followed by a soul deep numbness and he just stopped caring what was happening to him. He knew his body was reacting as he hardened in her hands and his body became slick to allow her fingers to move a little more easily inside of him, he just didn’t care that it happened or how disgusted he felt. Instead he thought of other things, he wondered if Lilith had found Papyrus and Frisk. He wondered if they were having fun and he wondered if they missed him. He knew, distantly that Oliva was being rough with him, hurting him for her own enjoyment, but it was easier not to care.

It was easier to let her take her fill, even when he wanted to tell her to stop. That he was hurting despite the slickness from between his legs and didn’t want her to keep going. He didn’t _like_ how she was treating him, how she was touching him. He didn’t like that she thrust roughly into his body, he didn’t like that she touched his length hard enough that it boarder lined on pain and he didn’t like that she was touching him. It was easier to ignore.

Ignoring it made it easier to keep his higher LoVe at bay. He knew that he could have killed her quickly and easily; his magic was a deep well, and his LV was so much higher than hers. All it would take was a little bit of violent intent and she would be dust. The irony was not lost on him that she could do the same, could hurt him just as easily because of his low defense and HoPe. Besides, he was Asgore’s Judge and executioner, who would believe him that she would have it in her to hurt him? He would have had to allowed it right?   

He saw Oliva shift in his lap, pulling her fingers from his body and he felt her fur stick to his magic inside his body in a horrifying manner, and he tried not to cringe. She pressed her fingers to his mouth, forcing them past his teeth to taste himself even when he didn’t react beyond internal screaming. She giggled and sank fully onto his painfully hard length, groaning drunkenly as she pressed her fingers deeper into his mouth. He chocked a little until she pulled her fingers from his throat and his hands automatically came up to her hips as she began to move.

He didn’t help her, but he certainly didn’t stop her either as she lifted herself up off him, dropping back down hard. He swallowed his cry of emotional hurt, taking this as his penance for the six little lives that ended because of him. It kept his secret from the people who mattered the most to him. “Come on Sans, you could help a little.”

“Why? You seem to be pretty _full_ at the moment.” The words were out of his mouth before he was even aware of them, and despite the pain circling his soul he smirked at her even as she turned to glare over her shoulder as she rode him.

“I f-fucking hate puns.” She hissed angrily, even as she dropped back onto him, “It’s your worse trait, I swear.”

Hurt flooded his chest, and he remembered a time when she had laughed at his jokes, had found him hilarious, “Yeah, well not all of us are _cock full_ of ourselves.” 

She glared again even as she bounced harder into his lap, gasping as she sought her own pleasure, “I fucking hate your jokes.” She hissed, pressing three fingers back into his body roughly, drawing a hiss of pain at the sudden intrusion and he _ached_.

“Stop.” He hissed suddenly, wincing as the pain pierced through the fog in his mind. Instead, Oliva laughed at his hurt, pressing a fourth finger inside and pumped her fingers harder into his un under prepared body, stretching him painfully; she pressed her fingers all the way to her first knuckles, and Sans gasped as he _burned_. She was rough and the fur of her fingers stuck to the tacky magic within his body. He wasn’t wet enough for that sort of treatment, and he felt raw as she pumped him.

“Your jokes are a worthless attribute.” She hissed. “Fucking worthless as you Sans.”  

Lilith didn’t think he was worthless.

The thought was so sudden, and hot it made him gasp. The pain ricochet through his soul so hard that he felt winded by a punch to the gut. Even as Oliva used his body, thought him to be worthless and only useful to her own ends, Lilith called him her friend.

So did Frisk. And Grillby. And Papyrus loved him so much.

Oliva continued to move over him, taking what she wanted from him in sloppy movements and he hated himself for it. Still, Lilith didn’t think he was worthless.

With a grunt of hurt, Sans shoved Oliva from his body roughly, sending her to the ground with a startled cry.

He was on his feet almost instantly, the thought that Lilith thought he was worth something, worth protecting, ran in circles in his head, and he couldn’t do it anymore. Not this horrible thing that he didn’t want to name with Oliva. Not with that thought in his head.

She was sputtering indignant outrage as he pulled on his shorts, “I’m not done!”

Sans winced as he leaned over to pick up his shirt to pull over his head, his dark look directed at her, “I don’t care. You need to go.” The warm fabric hummed against his bones, and he took comfort in that. Took comfort that Lilith had his back, that Sloan was waiting for them on the surface, that Frisk had found help.

That his brother loved him.

He didn’t need to put up with this anymore, he didn’t need to let Olivia use him for her own uses. They all thought he was worth something, surly he could see that too.  

Forcing herself to her feet, shaky and unsteady, her face full of dark hurt and bad intent, “No, I’m not done yet! You promised Sans! Anything I need!”

Sans froze, cursing himself as his soul twisted. He had promised her, back when they were still friends and she hadn’t taken advantage of that. Darkly, he glared at her, “I take it back. You don’t have that promise anymore.”

There was something freeing about seeing her face contort into shock before crumbling into anger, “You promised!” she spat, even as he bent to gather her cloths to shove at her chest.”

“I only make promises to friends, and friends don’t r-“ he couldn’t say it, then it would make it real. Even when he saw the triumphant look on her face, when she realized she had wounded him, he still couldn’t say it. “Friends don’t hurt each other. Now get out.”   

“Is that what your think this was?” she spat bitterly at him, “Who’d believe you Sans? Everyone knows what you did. What your LV is. You could have stopped me; everyone knows when _you_ say stop you don’t mean it.”

“Right, because coercion really equals consent.” He spat, “You backed me into a corner, and used me. Now get out.”

She managed to draw herself up right, looking angry and snotty, “Make me.”

He blinked at her, a dark smirk crawling across his face, “Okay.” He grabbed her arm and flung them into a short cut.

They reappeared in the ally behind Grillbys, and Sans refused to think of how many times he had gone to his knees for her out here and shoved her into the snow. He didn’t care about her nakedness or that she went into a puddle on the ground with a startled cry.  

“Stay away from me.” He hissed at her, fear and vindication swirling in his soul. She may have hurt him, could still hurt him, but he had won in the end.

He short cutted away before she could utter an angry word, leaving her in the cold snow behind Grillby’s. He panted hard, coming into his room, feeling both relieved and fearful. Vindicated and hurt. Hopeful and unhappy.

Olivia had been such a close friend, and she had fallen so far, hurt him so deeply but he had friends now. Real friends who cared a whole lot about him.

He stripped off his clothing, peeling them from his bones quickly and dumping the sweat soaked clothing in a ball on his floor, maybe he’d burn them later, and retreated to the bathroom. A hot shower would make him feel better, cleaner. He would scrub off the stale magic from his pelvis, and maybe if he was quick enough, he could catch up with his friends.

The thought of _his friends_ warmed his soul despite how his hands trembled. He ignored how his bones rattled, and how cold his soul felt. He pushed away the feeling of being dirty and used, ignored the spent magic caught in his pelvis and the wetness from Olivia. He ignored his churning soul and buried his feelings under a layer of cold numbness and detachment. Push it away, like he always did, bury it deep and pretend it didn’t happen. He bottled it up and put his emotions with the others that he didn’t ever talk about.

Stepping under the spray of hot water Sans sighed. The sad grey feeling was still there, rippling just beneath the surface, but it was manageable, not so sharp in his chest now that he buried his hurt beneath a layer of sarcasm and indifference. After all, when all this went wrong what did it matter what had just happened hurt him. When this reset, Oliva wouldn’t remember even if Sans did.

The fear was still there, what would they all say if they found out he had been the Judge that had harvested all the souls?  

He pushed the thought away, scrubbing hard at his bones, hanging onto the delicate thread of hope that was so tentative in his soul. Sometimes he could still see blood on his hands, feel it between his bones and it was just one more thing to push down, pretend that he couldn’t feel it.

-

Lilith wasn’t used to indecision. Indecision got you killed in war, it got your friends and family killed. It got your Den and Coven mates dead, that was what indecision did.

Which is why confusion and anger roiled through Lilith, her magic flaring with agitation. She had seen the hurt on Sans’ face, how delicate he looked. Like he might shatter with just enough pressure regardless of the reassurance that he was fine.

Lilith didn’t believe him, not in the least bit and the thought of leaving him alone in the house rankled. It had been the thought of her baby sister, _battling_ that had made her feet quick and hurry from the house. It didn’t matter that it was Papyrus that she fought with, a _Den_ mate, it was still a battle and Lilith was still her sister.   

Huffing a sound of annoyance from her chest, Lilith hurried forward, Frisk’s memory leading her to the other end of town, to where Papyrus and her sister would be.

She came around the corner, and for a moment she froze. She felt her heart stop as she struggled to see through the fog, to see Papyrus;

_His head fell from his shoulders, and Chara cackled through Frisk’s lips. Those hopeful eye-lights looked up so desperately to her sister, his words caring and soft, “You can do a little better…”_

_Frisk cried out, her soul screaming for help as Chara used her body like a puppet, her heel stamping down onto the top of Papyrus’s skull…_

Armor snapped around her body before she was even aware of it, distress and panic warred as tears filled her eyes and she was charging forward. Papyrus’s name was torn from her throat like a battle cry and magic crackled at her fingers.

That thing had hurt Papyrus, it hurt her baby sister and there was no way in hell she was going to let this happen again. Even if she had too…

Even if she tore the demon from Frisk’s soul, they would try again if they needed to.

Lilith charged through the fog that saturated the area between Snowdin and Waterfall, thick and heavy and the perfect place for an attack. She saw a shadow in the distance, tall and proud, but missing a skull that should have been smiling down at her.

Black rage filled Lilith, flooding her eyes and the sword was summoned with such ease, twirling it in her hand with easy movements of her wrist. She charged forward, her intent to kill high, her LV roiling bitterly in her soul as she cried out in anger.

Papyrus turned around as the fog cleared, his bright eye-lights shone with worry down at her and he shoved Frisk behind him as he took a defensive stance.

Lilith skidded to a stop in front of him, like hitting a brick wall, her eyes blown wide and panting hard from between gritted teeth. Her hands shook violently, and she rode the killing edge so finely.

Papyrus glanced nervously from Frisk to Lilith, moving slowly he put his gloved hands up as though to ease her, “Tall human?” his voice was oddly soft and quiet, “It’s alright tall human. You’re okay.”

She stared at him, panting hard as her mind grappled with seeing him safe and whole. She couldn’t let go of her anger, not as readily as the others in her Den could and she tried to shove the fear of losing one of her own back into its box.

“What has you so upset?” Papyrus asked softly, taking a step towards her, even as Lilith took a step back. He was alive, he was okay and whole and not _dust on the ground_.

“You…” her voice shook, and her soul clenched at seeing Papyrus look at her with such worry. He wasn’t afraid of her, wasn’t afraid of her LoVe at all. It helped ease the hold of rage in her soul and the black hate receded from her eyes a little. Still gripping her sword hard, Lilith tried to not let her breathing hitch, “I watched you die.” She croaked, and she felt Frisk’s grief and her own sorrow.

“I watched you die.” She said again even as her eyes turned glassy and wet, her LV flickering unhappily. It demanded revenge, restitution. 

She couldn’t look at Frisk right now, she wouldn’t be able to separate her beloved baby sister from the creature that had been haunting her. She stared at Papyrus instead, who was steady and still and _fucking alive._

Papyrus’s eyes dimmed and his frown deepened, “It is okay Lilith.” He said slowly, “Sans likes to prank people from across time and space, but I do not think this is one of those times.” He paused, suddenly assessing her with a deep intelligence he kept carefully hidden away, “I have memories too. They’re faint but scary. But it’s okay Lilith, you’re safe now.”

The first tear fell, rolling slowly down her cheek as her magic was dismissed, she almost missed Frisk’s shocked look to Papyrus, but she only had eyes for her new friend, “Papyrus.” Her breathing hitched as she reached for him suddenly pulling him toward her to bury herself into his chest, “I watched you die!” she sobbed, her mounting grief dragging her soul down.

Slowly, two skeletal arms wrapped around her, one large hand coming to rest on the top of her head as he hushed her, “It is alright Lilith, I am safe as well.”

Her arms circled around him, clinging desperately to the back of his ‘battle body’ as her fingers dug into the hard plastic. She needed to make him proper armor, she thought to herself as she clung onto him, sobbing softly and trying to get her brain to process that Papyrus was okay. That what she had seen was a different timeline, one long gone and dust. One where Chara had won and Frisk had to wrestle control back from it after Chara had slaughtered her friends and family.   

Lilith didn’t know how long they stayed like that, desperately gripping to each other in the thick fog as she struggled to shove her anger and rage back into its box. She didn’t know how long she sobbed into Papyrus’s chest while he hushed her, reassuring her that he was alive and well and safe.

She clung to him far longer then they had, reminding herself that Papyrus was safe and alive, and nothing would hurt him. She was slow to pull herself together, but she managed after too long and she slowly released her magic. Her armor faded into a puff of smoke, and Papyrus was able to squeeze her tighter against his skeletal frame.

She took another deep breath before she was able to pull herself from his embrace, wiping away the tears from her face with the back of the sleeve of her winter coat, “Thanks.” She said softly.

Papyrus gave her a small smile, “Are you alright now?”

Lilith nodded, still not able to look at Frisk without her stomach churning, “Yeah, thanks Paps.”

His grin widened into something more genuine, “YOU ARE WELCOME TALL HUMAN.” He turned to Frisk, his smile wavering a little at her look of distress, “ARE YOU ALRIGHT SMALL HUMAN?”

Frisk hesitated before giving her sister a sad look and holding her arms up to her. Lilith scooped her sister up, her voice muttering, “Sorry Sweets.”

Tiny hands clung to Lilith’s coat as Frisk clung to her sister, her little face buried hard into her shoulder. A wash of guilt went through Lilith as her sister trembled, and they would talk this out once they were both feeling a little more shored up.

“HUMANS LET US GO HOME. I WILL MAKE YOU THE MOST DELICIOUS AND NUTRITIOUS LUNCH, AND YOU WILL FEEL MUCH BETTER!”   

Lilith gave Papyrus a small smile, nodding despite how her voice still sounded raw, “Thanks Papyrus, that…that’d be great.”

Papyrus beamed at her as they fell in line next to each other, “Thank you Papyrus.” She said softly, “For...for that. I. It can be hard sometimes.”

A strong arm of thick, healthy bones was draped across her shoulders and Papyrus pulled her into his side, “You are welcome Lilith.” His voice was soft again, caring and it made Lilith feel better.

Magic seeped into the path, pressed into Papyrus, a bond that any mage would sense. One that spoke of family and Den, and it happened so easily that Lilith almost missed it.

She laughed a little, it was watery and small, and leaned into the embrace, “Paps…do you. Do you remember the timelines?”  

She should probably tell him about what her magic was doing, what it would mean when they reached the surface, but it would be easier with Sloan and Lola. They’d be able to explain how Den bonds worked better then she.

Papyrus hummed, “Is that what Sans calls them? Timelines?”

Frisk and Lilith both nodded, a little uncertain, surprise flickering through them both.

Papyrus hummed again, a finger from his free hand tapping against his teeth, “Perhaps a little bit? Flashes of feeling and memory?” he frowned a little, eye-lights becoming dim and sad, “Sometimes I remember dying. I remember Sans being sad as I faded away. I. I sometimes remember being scared but I don’t remember why. It hurts to think about it too much.”  

Lilith glanced up at him uncertain, rearranging Frisk in her arms so that she carried her sister against the opposite side that Papyrus walked so that she could wrap an arm around his hips. She pulled him in to a sideways hug, “That won’t happen again.” She promised, “To either of you.  

Papyrus hummed again, guiding the two mages out of the fog, “Perhaps. But one does have to ask, why is this happening? What is causing all this? Why can’t I remember anything but faint memories, but Sans can? That you and Frisk can.”

Lilith hummed, sinking into her friends embrace a little more, “I don’t know why Sans knows.”

Frisk’s little hand left her sister’s shoulder to add in, _“So dose Asgore. He remembers too. I don’t know why.”_

“But it’s because of mages. Chara has become something dark and cruel, a ghost maybe? Fucking poltergeist? It’s hard to say, but it’s leaving an impression on you.” Lilith mused from his side with a frown, still feeling shaky.

Papyrus hummed, considering, “Perhaps it is because Chara was a mage, her magic is reacting with our magic. Or reacting with Frisk’s magic?

Lilith looked up slowly, chewing slowly on her inner lip when she asked, “Papyrus, do you know…you realize I’m a mage?”

Papyrus snorted and he rolled his eye-lights so hard they disappeared at the top of the sockets, “Well of course you’re a mage! Anyone who can’t sense your magic from you a mile away is just not even trying.” He huffed again at her shocked face, “And I am the _great_ Papyrus! So of course, it was easy for me to sense what you are and feel your magic. Although it is a little more, you know…. _violent_ than I am accustomed to, you have it well under control.”

Then he turned that beaming smile onto her, “And I have seen that you are a good person! You and Frisk both, I can see it in how you are kind to by brother and how you came to my defense. You are trying to be a good person Lilith, and that is all any of us can do.”

Lilith laughed thinly, her smile a little shaky around the edges, “Thanks Paps.”

He beamed at her, adding, “Besides you have me now! I will help guide you tall human!”

His joy was contagious, and Lilith found herself giving him a rare, real smile, feeling a little better, “I do, and you’ve got me. Nothing bad will happened to you anymore, not like that. And we have Frisk and Sans.”

Papyrus nodded, his soft _Neh, heh, heh_ laugh was breathless and happy, and it helped settle her roiling LoVe and uncertainty.

They went home, Papyrus leading them through the fog and avoiding the guard, chatting excitedly about the spaghetti he was going to make them for lunch.

-

Lilith smiled a little, the fear long gone, as she listened to Papyrus and Frisk gush about their ‘battle’ and she realized then that Papyrus had not tried very hard in battle with Frisk. He had acted more like an older brother or Den mate, helping build her confidence gently, letting her win.

They could hear the shower running above them, and Sans seemed to be taking his sweet time, having already been bathing when they got back to their house, the sound of running water echoing through the silence.

Lilith kept glancing up, waiting for the water to turn off, the happy, pleasant feelings from earlier fading away and back to worry. Frowning, Lilith was certain either Frisk or Sans were going to give her a coronary with how much they made her worry.

It was like every time she turned around, there was some new hurt or threat or something that ratcheted her anxiety up. The indecision that had plagued her earlier forgotten now that she was back with both Papyrus and Frisk, and Sans all under one roof.

She huffed a poof of air, trying to ignore the growing worry. She knew she hadn’t left Sans in a good way, knew that he had been hurting and sad, and leaving him hadn’t been an easy choice.

The water finally turned off upstairs, and Lilith felt herself tense, her muscles going stiff. Her eyes flooded crimson and crackled with magic. There was something wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Something that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end and made her stomach twist; instinct was warning her about something, but what?

Looking down, Lilith cleared her throat, reaching across the table to the softly glowing strips of fabric, “Papyrus, Frisk, I need you both to wear these.” She said softly.

Frisk looked up, frowning when she sensed Sloan’s magic embedded in the fabric.

“OH! IS IT LIKE A FRIENDSHIP BRACELET?” Papyrus asked, holding out his hand for Lilith to tie the fabric around.

“Not quite.” She told him quietly, “Chara has been bothering…people in the underground. The fabric has been embedded with magic from our spell caster and charged with my blood. It’ll keep you both safe from her influence. She won’t be able to talk to you or get to you in your dreams. Just, keep them on okay?”

She finished tying the first one around Papyrus’s wrist and turned to Frisk, Papyrus frowned at the softly glowing fabric at his wrist, “Does…does Sans have one of these?”

Lilith nodded as she tied one around Frisk’s tiny wrist, “He does.”

“Has it been Chara who has been giving Sans night terrors?” he asked softly, eye-lights dimming.

Lilith frowned, nodding, unable to lift her gaze, allowing Papyrus to continue, “I don’t like her.” He said softly, frowning at himself as though he felt bad for the admission.

Lilith nodded, “Me neither.”

“Does that make me a bad person?” he asked frowning at the fabric, voice soft and sad.

Snorting, Lilith shook her head no, “Not in the least bit. She hurt you. She’s hurt Sans and Frisk. She’s had so many chances to do something different to pick a different path. She’s stayed the course and intends to continue to hurt anyone who tries to stand against her.”

Gentle fingertips brushed at the fabric with a small frown, “It doesn’t make me feel like a good person.

Lilith looked up, and offered him a small smile, giving him a little nudge, “I know it doesn’t. But you are, and not liking someone whose hurt you is a normal response. Sometimes you just…you just can’t save everyone.” She paused, and nodded at him, “But we can save the people we care about, and that’ll have to be enough.”

Papyrus stared at the fabric at his wrist a little while longer, uncertain, parting his teeth to ask something else when Sans came downstairs. He looked tired, the dark blue shadows under his eyes were a little darker, he looked a little sad.

When he saw the three of them, he still brightened a little, his smile stretching a little, “Hey, your all back. Look’n a little tense though.” He glanced around, still at the doorway, “What’cha talking about?”

Lilith fumbled over her words, wanting to both reassure him that everything was fine and to ask him if he was okay, Papyrus saved her from her stumbling words, “GOOD AFTERNOON BROTHER. WE ARE DISCUSSING IF DISLIKING CHARA MAKES ME A BAD PERSON OR NOT.”

Sans’s eyes went wide, his eye-lights disappearing as his bones went still, “You…know? About her?”

Papyrus nodded, “WHY YES BROTHER I DO. I HAD ALWAYS KNOWN, LILITH WAS KIND ENOUGH TO FILL IN THE GAPS.” Sans’ angry gaze swung to glare at Lilith, and the mage shivered under the anger of the Judge.

“Sans.” Papyrus’s voice was soft again, and it drew his brother’s angry gaze away from the mage, “Why didn’t you tell me the truth? Why didn’t you trust me to help you?”

The anger faded and Sans folded into his thick jacket, hiding his hurt. Lilith went to stand, to reach out to him but hesitated.

“I…I just wanted you to be happy Paps. I didn’t want you to worry.” Sans told his brother, his voice small and uncertain.

Papyrus glanced down at the fabric at his wrist, the magic humming protectively. Nodding to himself, Papyrus crossed the sort distance between himself and his brother, bending down to envelop Sans in a tight hug.

“And I don’t want you to shoulder this on your own. I don’t want you to be unhappy either brother and you have been. You don’t need to do everything by yourself, you have me to help you.”

Sans closed his eyes tightly, tears coming to the corners after such an awful day. Slowly his arms wrapped around Papyrus, and his breathing hitched, “I’m supposed ta protect you. Not the other ways ‘round.” The Hotland accent he tried so hard to hide slowly coming through in his distress.

Papyrus tightened his hold, his voice soft, “No. We’re supposed to protect each other, that’s what brothers do Sans. I am no longer a child that you need to safeguard.”

“I know bro.” Sans said quietly, burying his face into his brothers’ shoulder. “I know. I just…”

He couldn’t say it, couldn’t tell Papyrus how many times he had watched his brother die. Papyrus had no qualms with the truth, “You watched me die. Didn’t you brother?”

Sans nodded, his throat felt thick and he was unable to form words, and he clung to Papyrus. Pain and hurt bubbled up from his chest and he trembled. Papyrus held him patiently, holding him together while Lilith safeguarded their backs.

They were safe here, protected in their home and no one would hurt them. “I love you Sans.” Papyrus said quietly, his teeth pressing against Sans skull in a kiss, “And you are safe. No longer will you deal with this alone. You have me. And we have Frisk and Lilith, and we will be okay.”

Sans hiccupped softly, sadly, and was afraid to believe. Papyrus pulled away slowly, wiping the tears that fell from his brothers’ eyes, “Let us have some lunch Sans. You need to eat, and so does Frisk. And since we are ripping off painful band aids of truth, we will talk about what has been going on. All of it, the timelines,” he glanced to Lilith and frowned, “Chara, what she has been doing to Frisk. All of it.”    

Sans looked down, and nodded slowly, “Whatever you want bro.”

“The truth. I want the truth.” He said firmly, guiding his brother to sit next to Lilith, forcing him in the seat.

Lilith’s hand instantly settled on his forearm, squeezing gently, “It’s okay.” She said softly, “It’s okay Sans.” Her hand moved down his forearm, taking his hand. She sunk her fingers between his, and squeezed gently, “Don’t worry Sans.”

He did worry, and he looked away to scrub at his face as Papyrus went back to finish lunch. Lilith opened her mouth to add something else when she was interrupted by a furious pounding at their door. Sans sighed in relief, a temporary stay of execution, saved by the bell as it were. 

Lilith watched in horrifying amazement as Sans put his mask back in place with practice ease, his smirk finding its place and the tears disappearing. Papyrus made an annoyed noise, glaring at the door.

“Better get that, sounds _knockingly_ important.” Sans said, his voice suddenly steady with someone else at the door. It broke Lilith’s heart to see how quickly that mask went back up when faced with someone encroaching on his territory. Control like that took practice, lots of practice, and pain; pain was an excellent teacher.  

Sans untangled his hand from Lilith’s, ignoring the three frowns directed at him, ignored the churning of his magic as he shortcutted to the front door. He took a moment to shore up his smirk and opened the door.

Instinct suddenly was screaming at him, telling him to move, to dodge the blow and he tossed himself into a shortcut, reappearing several steps back. Olivia’s slap cut through the empty air, making her stumble forward and into their house.

Rage flickered through her and Sans felt shock ripple through his body; she was filled with violent intent that would likely have killed him had she connected with his face. A spike of fear sent a single, violent tremble though his bones, before anger came next. “Olivia! What the hell!” he spat at her, anger making magic spark at his fingertips.

“You left me in the fucking snow Sans! You fucked me, and left me in the snow, naked behind Grillbys!” she spat, angry and bitter.

Sans sputtered, angry and indignant, “I fucked you! That’s rich coming from you!”

Behind him, he could hear chairs scrapping across the floor, from the corner of his eye, he saw Papyrus shoving Frisk behind him, his back to the stairs as his eye flashed orange with his magic.

Lilith was also on her feet, the smoke of her magic giving the faint outline of her armor, her eyes dark and cold. Her face neutral and empty as she stared at Oliva; her face may have given nothing away, but Sans could feel her anger. Could feel that powerful, protective magic wash over him at her proximity.

Oliva didn’t notice the danger at his back, the swirling violent intent in Lilith’s magic and the protective anger from Papyrus, “I can’t believe you would do something like that to me.” Her eyes glanced to his friends at his back, and a cruel smirk fluttered across her face before her eyes filled with fake tears, her lip puckered and trembled, “I’m your friend Sans.  Why would you do something like that?”

Sans took a step back, anger flushing through him. Thoughts of her hands on his body made him shiver and disgust made his magic crawl. He had allowed her to touch him, and he hadn’t liked it. “I told you to stop.” He hissed, angry and hurt. “I told you to stop and you didn’t!”

“You’ve killed children Sans,” a tear dramatically fell from her eye, and Sans felt his soul freeze over. He could hear Papyrus shifting awkwardly, and Lilith stayed perfectly still. “You’re the Judge. Of course, you’ve killed, all that LV. It makes you crazy, makes you see things that aren’t there. But please don’t say things like that Sans.”

Sans stared at her, mouth open, flabbergasted at her audacity, his mouth snapping shut with a clank of teeth and his anger seethed, “I told you I didn’t want to! I told you to stop, but you didn’t.”

Olivia exaggerated her flinch away from him, lavender eyes glancing to Papyrus and Lilith to gauge their reaction, “Sans, please don’t be angry.”

“I’m not angry!” he hissed, his eye-lights narrowing into pin pricks of light, and he wondered how the hell he had gotten to this point. How had the timeline gone so wrong?

“You see,” Olivia said to Papyrus and Lilith, her eyes pleading, “You see what he’s like? He can’t help it, I’m sure he didn’t mean to leave me in the snow, but what he’s saying is a lie.”

Emotion welled and Sans felt his hands open and close in helpless rage. She was _lying_ , and Sans couldn’t help but to think back to all the other times she had hurt him. The times she had lied about him, they had all seemed so small, and he just didn’t have it in him to care; but now…

Lilith’s even steps brought her next to Sans, an angry cloud of smoke and magic that didn’t reach her cold face. She didn’t react when she looked into his stricken face; she was impossibly cold, her eyes crimson that was tinted black with anger and her magic swirled at her fingers. Sans could see the faint outline of the swords at her back, not quite fully summoned but floating in the wings. It wouldn’t take much to summon them fully.

Her dark eyes finally left his, sliding to Oliva who gave her a weak, drunken smile, “You understand right? Sans isn’t right, don’t believe him. Look at his LV.”

Lilith tilted her head, face cold as she took careful steps towards Oliva, rage broiled just inside her skin, burning her soul alive.

Instead of releasing it, Lilith carefully tucked it back into its box of cautious control and she stemmed the flow of her violent intent. Planting herself between Oliva and Sans, Lilith struck her with an open palmed slap that reverberated throughout the room. Somewhere behind her Papyrus gasped loudly as Sans felt his anger fall in place of shock. Out of anything the mage could have done, an open-handed slap to the face had not been what Sans would have thought she would have done.

Gasping, Oliva’s head twisted with the force of the slap, her hand coming up to her cheek where Lilith had made contact, even as her ears rung, “Did you just slap me?” she asked quietly, a little unsteady.  

A knife sharp smirk cut across Lilith’s face, making her look more deranged then cold, “I did. Weird right.” Oliva’s mouth opened in hurt and shock, taking a step back as Lilith took an aggressive step forward.

Somewhere behind them, Frisk whimpered and was quickly hushed by Papyrus, and shock began to wane from Sans’s soul. His jaw clenched, and his knees wobbled, that horrible grey feeling returning.

Lilith took another step forward, crowding Oliva at the door, making her stumble back. Fear making her tremble, her eyes wide and afraid, “But…he.”

“You need to leave.” Her magic was beginning to become solid and hard as her armor began to settle around her body in parts. Her gauntlets glinted in the dim light as the handles of her blades shimmered into existence, the sheaths shimmering as unformed magic. The spikes of her armor’s spine were almost formed and real, as were her boots, “I don’t like what’s being said here, and you need to leave.” The black in her eyes swirled inwards to her pupils, “Because it sounds like, I’m not going to like what you’ve done to my friend. And if this is what I think what this is, I’m going to find out if I still have the skills to skin a hare.”

Magic, powerful magic swirled aggressively in the tight space of the living room, oppressive and heavy with a sudden _violent_ intent. Lilith would kill her, Sans realized, without hesitation for what had been implied happened to him. A hurt that she could sense, pain that was marrow deep.

Oliva was panting hard, afraid, staring up at Lilith with terror that made her stomach turn. She turned and fled, leaving the cold wind of Snowdin to blow into the open door.

It was when Oliva was finally gone did Sans’s knees give out, and he knew he should be feeling something. Something beyond the empty grey in his heart, and he wondered if this was a defense mechanism that protected himself from pain he couldn’t cope with.

Maybe that was why he couldn’t feel anything right now, not even the tears that had started to slip down his face.

“Sans?” it was Papyrus’s voice that drew his eyes upward, confused and afraid. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, trying to find the words to reassure his brother and the mages. That what they think had happened, hadn’t.  

Even when it had. Even when it hadn’t hurt, uncomfortable yes but not true pain, it still did damage that was unseen and he didn’t know how to describe it.

Papyrus slowly knelt, his knees around him so that he could fold around Sans from behind him, his arms wrapping tightly around his brother. Sans could feel his brother tremble around him, squeezing him tightly, whispering “I’m so sorry Sans. I should have known better.”

Sans shook his head no, but words escaped him. Left him mute and unable to tell Papyrus it wasn’t his fault. Frisk managed to squish herself between his arms, her own wrapped tightly around Sans’s middle to cling to him, her silent sobs shaking her shoulders.

Sans tried to squeeze her back, but his strength and magic drained out of him in a flash of pain. Leaving him weak and sick. Papyrus squeezed them both, wrapping himself around them protectively.

“Lilith?” Papyrus’s voice was soft and hurt, his eye-lights were overly bright with emotion, and they were focused on the older mage. Sans looked up at her as well, his eye-lights just as dim and lost; she was at the door, one hand clenched at her side as the other clenched at the door hard enough that the wood cracked a little. She looked ready to step out into the cold after Oliva, looked like she wanted to go after her.

“Lilith?” Papyrus called to her again, and Frisk whimpered into Sans’s chest, “Please don’t.” he pleaded softly.

Lilith took a deep, slow breath, her voice cold and hard, “Why not? Mage law dictates she should not get a second chance to hurt someone else, she shouldn’t get the second chance to hurt Sans.”

Sans knew he should have felt something for that, but it was too hard. It would have been better to nap, that sounded good. He pressed into his brother’s warm body, pulling Frisk deeper into Papyrus’s hug. Everything felt dull and grey, and he was so very tired.

“Because,” Papyrus’s voice was watery, “We need you here.”

The air was practically knocked from Lilith’s lungs, and she deflated a little as her shoulders slumped. She took another breath and shook the magic that had gathered at her body away, and it was dismissed in a haze of smoke.

Gently she closed the door with a click, locking the deadbolt and stepped away from the door. Her eyes were clear of rage and magic, but they were still angry. Still, she crossed the room slowly, her breathing controlled and slow, choosing them over everything else.

Lilith nearly collapsed next to Papyrus, even before he reached for her to drag Lilith into their embrace. She slotted next to his brother easily, pressing into his side as her arm wrapped around Sans’s chest, her head pressing into his shoulder.

They squeezed in around Sans, holding him tightly, even as he fell limp between them, and his eyes slipped shut.

“I’m sorry.” He muttered, slipping unconscious. He didn’t know why they loved him, why they cared so much. He didn’t understand why Lilith was so angry, why she would even want to seek retribution or why she would choose him over that.

“I love you brother.” Papyrus said softly, pressing his teeth to Sans’s skull.

Frisk squeezed him tight, pushing as much _love_ into his soul and she hoped he understood.

Lilith circled around him, voice softening slowly, “We’ve got you Sans.”

He didn’t know why they cared so much, but he clung to them all the same, soaking in their love for him. Maybe things would be better in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans is coerced into sex with Oliva that he does not want to have. Although she does not hurt his body, it hurts his soul and he feels betrayed by the experience.


	11. A Small Ray of Happiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After falling into a depressive state, Sans and Lilith share a soft moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello dear readers, I hope you are all enjoying the story thus far. We get to see a bit of the after math of the last chapter. The tags have been updated so be sure to read them. However, as a quick note, there is a moderately detailed description of a depressive episode in this chapter. If this is something that you are not comfortable with perhaps give this one a miss. 
> 
> A very quick synopsis at the end.

Things where not better in the morning. Far from it.

Sans knew he was having a bad time, worse so then usual when he woke the next morning still feeling numb and grey. It was like a weight in his soul, like someone had drained all the color from him and it felt like it was impossible to ever hope to feel anything beyond the cycle of hurt, nothing and sadness.

He didn’t know why he was like this, or what brought on these days of horrible feelings when he just wanted to give up and not care anymore. Not when everything was just so hard, and no matter how much he tried to do his best nothing ever got better.

Other times, he would simply weep until he had nothing left to cry. Would lay in Lilith or Papyrus’s arms and sob without knowing why. He couldn’t understand why he was reacting like this; it wasn’t like what Oliva had done to him was anything new. It was hardly the first time, so why was he so sad about it now?

Maybe she had nothing to do with it, maybe this went deeper than just what Oliva had done to him. Maybe this was a whole bunch of things all rolled into a single, horrible mess.

Fuck, Sans was certain _he_ was a mess.

Papyrus had asked Lilith, after three days of the same depressive cycle, if she knew what was wrong with him; he had been dozing on the couch at the time, Frisk off exploring Snowdin while the adults stayed home to care for him.

Sans was barley awake when Lilith had explained what PTSD was, and that Sans needed more help than what either of them could provide. This seemed to upset Papyrus, thinking he should have been enough to help his brother, but Lilith reassured him that it was okay. That one of their Den mates, Felix, suffered from something very similar after the war, and that there was nothing wrong with getting help. It was encouraged in fact, supported by the Den and they would do the same for Sans when they got top side.

They just had to get Sans up there.

That conversation had been three days ago, six in total since Sans had fallen into such a state after Oliva had revealed what he was to Lilith, Frisk and Papyrus. What he had done, and what she had done to him.

Leaning into Lilith, Sans tried not to think too much about it, about what Oliva had told them, tried to not feel ashamed at what he had done. Lilith hadn’t brought it up either, and deep down Sans was afraid that she would be disgusted with him because of what he had done to those children that had fallen.

He deserved this, he thought. Deserved to feel this way, to be treated poorly because of what he had done.

Pressing into Lilith, Sans sighed softly. She was laying on the pull-out couch with him pressed into her side as they watched TV; Papyrus and Frisk out getting something to make for lunch while Lilith guarded him.

They should be long gone by now; they should have made it to Hotland in the time they had spent trying to comfort him and would easily be halfway home. Yet they stayed behind, their worry keeping them in Snowdin and not moving forward.

Sans glanced up when he felt Lilith shift; his head was nestled into her bottom ribs as she lay back against the head of the couch. One arm draped around his shoulders while the other curled at the back of her head as they watched a rerun of Mettaton’s show.

She didn’t seem to be bothered that they were days behind, nor did she seem bothered by the silence between them. Instead she gave Sans the room to ask questions or talk, only asking him if he was okay when he was emotionally overwhelmed, and the tears would fall. He hated it, hated that he was so afraid and weak, and that Frisk and Lilith stayed because he was trash that couldn’t take care of himself.

Lilith shifted again, settling deeper into the cushion at their backs and her arm tightened around him. Huffing a sigh, he felt restless, the first time in days he had felt anything other than constantly swapping hurt and numbness. Hopefully this would be a sign that he was starting to come out of this particularly bad episode.

“You okay?” Lilith asked, dark eyes glancing down to him while he resettled his head against her ribs.

“Yeah.” He muttered, trying not to fidget and too awake to sleep.

Lilith nodded and looked back to the television, again leaving it up to him to talk if he wanted to and for that Sans was grateful.

“Are there other monsters on the surface?” he asked suddenly, just wanting to fill the quite between them and wanting to know what the surface was like. If there were threats that he needed to be aware of.

Lilith looked down at the top of his skull with a frown, “Umm no? I thought you were all locked down here.”

It had been the most they had said to each other in six full days, and Sans shrugged a shoulder, “Well, you aren’t totally human, are you? Are there others like you? Other classifications?”

Lilith looked up to consider, humming a little as she thought, “Yeah.” She said slowly, “There are. But we don’t classify them all as monsters. Well. Some but not…” she paused, considered her words more carefully. “Humans are shit at classification.” She said eventually.

He glanced up to her face, the smallest of smirks tugging at the corners of his mouth at her scruched nose as she thought, it was _cute_. He wanted her to keep talking, _needed_ her to keep talking. Her voice was soothing, and he needed to feel something. He nudged her with the shoulder pressed into her body, “Is there?”

“Hmmm?” she made a noise and looked back down at him, her hand running up and down his back, “Oh yeah. Yeah. They’re lots of different subcategories. Mages are just one of them. There’s Valkyrie of course, long lived women warriors who descended from gods. Then there’s your usual types, elves and nymphs, and they’ve each got like, a dozen different types of those. There’s a coven of vampires that live in our territory, but they tend to keep to themselves and have a _long_ line of volunteers to drink from.”

She paused and thought again, “There’s a pack of werewolves in the territory of a Den in my Coven. Mermaids don’t really like to come near shore, they don’t really trust humanity, which fair enough. There are demons too, not all of them are possession based like the one bound to Felix. Then there’s the creatures too, like dragons and unicorns, things from the Nether. Forest sprits and whatnot. They tend to be the most prickly when it comes to technology, not fans of it.”

Sans listened to her words, the wonder of a surface world where magic and technology blended so smoothly, where creatures like Lilith, or vampires and mermaids could live alongside humans without fear or hate, and that…hurt.

“Then why us?” he asked softly, almost desperately and wished he couldn’t feel anything right now. He could feel tears gathering again, and he hated himself for it.

Lilith froze, sucking in a breath of air through her teeth before answering, “I don’t know Sans. I don’t know why the humans and some of the…other folks hated your people so much. I don’t know why they turned against you and did this to you.” She looked around the room before her attention turned back to him, and she frowned at his sad face.

“I don’t know if it was because we were human enough to pass some bull shit standard or what. I don’t believe it has to do with your ability to take our souls. Mages, vampires and the Fae are just as dangerous, but we lack the compassion to not hurt. Honestly? I think you were targeted because you are different. Looked different, used magic different, worship different gods. I think those are all just excuses to justify people’s bigotry.”

“You think this will start another war? Or worse?” he asked softly, his fingers finding the hem of her shirt, moving the fabric between his fingers, just trying to feel something.

Lilith shrugged, “Maybe.” She told him honestly. “There are plenty of people who hate us, and they’ll hate you too. Plenty of people who choose to stay out of our territory, who protest everything we do, even when we are helping other people. There’s lots of places we don’t go in fear of being attacked, so we stay away, there’s no reason to cause an incident.”

She pulled Sans against her tighter, the hand on his back coming up to scratch at the back of his skull, “But do you know what makes us strong? What helped us survive war, and witch hunts, and other Covens trying to destroy us because they thought our blood was dirty or less than them?”

Sans shook his head no, his voice sounded thick and watery, “No.”

Lilith sat up, pulling him up with her and shifted so that she was sitting cross legged in front of him. Her hands found his chin and she gently tipped it up so that she could look in his eye lights, “It was our commitment to our Den and Coven. No one mage is powerful, it’s the power of our Dens and Coven that is our true power. We were the under dogs in our war, but the Durhem and the Kehtor forgot that very simple lesson. Den and Coven, the members in our family that’s what’s important, we don’t sacrifice each other, no one is cannon fodder. We’re there for each other, that’s what makes us strong. That strength? It’ll be there with you too. Our Den will protect you; our Coven will help you. We will not let anyone bury you under another mountain. Okay?”

He nodded, swallowing thickly, and his soul churned, “Okay.”

“You’re a part of our Den Sans, and we’ll be there for you. So, let them come for you. Our Coven is no longer the underdog, we are no longer the small, helpless Coven that couldn’t stop you being locked away. We are the Coven who stood tall and strong against a far stronger enemy and won the war. We faced elimination at the hands of our own kind, from even our own parents and we won. So let them come Sans, let them declare war, because I promise you we will deliver them what they want.”

Sans fought the sob, his soul feeling hot and humiliated as he mopped his face with the back of his hand, shaking away her hands, “Why?”

For all her bolster and confidence, Lilith faltered, “Uhhh. Well.” She sighed, her head tilting down a little as her face suddenly became red as her hands fell to her lap, “Remember that click when I found Felix in that memory, I showed you?”  

“That…click?” he said quietly, wiping his face again, swallowing his emotions.

“Yeah. We just…clicked. Sans I think we might have…clicked?” she said slowly, wincing a little and seemed to brace for his reaction.

Instead he snorted, looking down, “I don’t think you want to click with me. I’m all…broken.”

Frowning, Lilith chewed on her inner lip before slowly saying, “And I’m a killer, so you know. We’ve all got issues, I guess.” Her face was red as a beat, and she averted her eyes.

Sans snorted at her, feeling vulnerable and raw, over what he wasn’t sure, “So what does this whole click thing mean?”

Lilith shrugged, suddenly seemed nervous and uncertain, “Means whatever we want it to mean. I’m not…Lola is a lot better at explaining this, how Fate works and stuff. But.” She pauses again, looking a little insecure for the first time since Sans had met her, “But you’ve got me instead, and I…I won’t let anything happen. Battle mages, we’re…we’re territorial and protective. So…” she shrugged as though that were an answer.

Using his t-shirt to wipe away the unshed tears from his eyes, he went back to fiddling with the hem of her shirt, “So does that make us like…family?”

Lilith snorted, “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” She said bitterly.

Sans looked up at her, confused at her words, “What?”

She gave him a half smile, her annoyance falling away, “It means that the bonds you make with others are more powerful then blood of family. My mother is a murderous traitor who only lives because she lives in another territory controlled by the Rhetor. A Den is stronger than just familial ties, stronger than just simply family. A Den is…” she looked up and actually smiled, “A Den bounded in ways far deeper. Bonded through magic and…” she cringed as though it pained her to say this, “Bonded trough Fate.”  

Sans managed an almost smile, the first one in days, “Thought you didn’t believe in Fate.” He said quietly, and Lilith snorted at him.

He reaches out and she instantly takes his hands, linking their fingers together lightly, holding him like he was precious, “I don’t, but I believe in what I can feel, and I trust my instinct. I trust my magic, and it’s drawing me to you.” Her face goes bright red again, and it makes Sans’s almost smile edge into something more real.

“That sounds like Fate.” He says quietly, his eye-lights still dim.

Lilith rolls her eyes, “I prefer to think of it as magic.”

Sans tries to make a joke, there needs to be a pun in there somewhere, but he’s just so tired and this conversation is making him feel weird. Instead, he manages to focus and stay serious, “So, if I ask you stuff, you’ll tell me the truth?”

Lilith shrugged, “Haven’t I been truthful?”

Sans nodded, and okay, yeah evil mage had a point. There were so many things he wanted to know, things that he wanted to know what she thought about. He wanted to know what she thought about what had happened with Oliva. He wasn’t ready for that yet, and chickened out, “What’s the Nether? I’ve seen it in a memory and heard you refer to demons from there. But…what is it?” he offers a brittle smile, “Is it another mountain that humans have forced monsters under?”

Lilith huffs, and she almost laughs, “No, it’s not a mountain. It’s like.” She pauses to think, and her hands are warm in his, “It’s like a mirror world to ours, but there are creatures that live there. Some people call it The Dark Place, or From Darkness. I’ve only been there once, and its dark and cold and rotting. The world is saturated with negativity and violence, and the native creatures that live there, wraths, are massive hungry creatures. They’re feral and come in a delightful array of different type of subcategories.”

“So…what. What’s a wrath?” he wants her to keep talking, talking is good, it doesn’t let him feel so alone.

Lilith hums, her thumbs soft on his knuckles and Sans doesn’t think that she realizes that she’s moving them softly, “They’re typically built like animals, bears, birds, cats. That sort of thing, massive, shadowy creatures that are looking for a meal. Some spell casters, powerful ones like Sloan, can open portals to the Nether and summon these creatures. In the war, it was common. A single wrath could decimate Dens of mages and Valkyrie. It’s why we created alliances with dragons in the first place, they were the only thing big enough to kill a wrath easily. Now, it’s pretty rare for one to be summoned or for the walls between our world and the Nether to be weakened enough for something to come through.”

“So, the one that attacked Ebott?” Sans asked slowly.

“Could be someone sending a message. Or trying to hurt us. Could be the walls between worlds is at that point, where it’s just weak enough for something to come through. Although that tends to happen mostly around Halloween.” She shrugs, looking a little worried, “It happens.”

Sans nods, shifting a little, “What about demons? Like the ones bound to Felix?”

Lilith nodded slowly, “Some demons comes from the Nether. The one that shares Felix’s soul does, so Felix is able to open portals to the Nether and could summon a wrath if he needed to. They could even exert a little bit of control over a wrath, if they needed to.”

“Does… does it hurt Felix?”

“No. They’ve been bonded for well over three hundred years. Felix and his demon have reached maximum cohesion.” She smiles fondly to think of her brother and Den mate, “They are one, and they are Den. Felix and his demon are not two separate beings anymore.”

Sans nods and looks away, so Lilith adds, “And we love him no less.”      

Sans nods again, thinking and trying to focus on the information he’s been given when Lilith asks him a question. Her hands tighten a fraction on him, like she’s afraid that he’ll run when she asks it, “Sans. What happened with Oliva?”

He feels himself stiffen; he even stops breathing for a moment and his eye lights blow wide and Lilith can see the fear there even as he stuttered and tripped over his words. She can see him trying to bury it, to hide his feelings and struggled with it. Lilith couldn’t help but wonder how many times had he done exactly that, bury everything until there was nothing left to feel?

“Lilith.” Sans cringed at how weak his voice sounded, “Please don’t. I can’t.” his voice cracked, and for a moment he could feel soft fuzzy hands on his body.

Lilith’s mouth pulled into a thin line, her face contorting into one of displeasure. She opened her mouth to say something, then stopped to think better of it. When she spoke again, her voice was smoother and slow despite the gathering magic that crackled at her fingertips. “I should have asked this days ago, but you were just so.” She paused and frowned, “You weren’t ready to talk about it. Sans did she hurt you?”

His eye lights fell away, unable to stare into her concerned crimson gaze, “No.” he said softly and cringed, “Maybe a little?”

She sucked on her teeth, looking somewhere between angry and annoyed. Slowly she nodded, unwilling to pry, “Do you need healing? I can’t do it, but you must have a healer or something nearby?” she asked a little helplessly.

He shook his head no, tilting his face downward and she allowed him. Her hands squeeze his tightly, and she very nearly drags him into a tight hug to protect him from being hurt, “Okay.” She said softly, and she licked her lips, “Sans.” Her voice was serious and hard, he shivered at the magic gathered in her eyes, but they were different from Chara. Cold yes, but still filled with protective anger and emotion that Chara was unable to show any longer. “Do you want me to kill her?”

It should have been shock that filled Sans, a horror at the offer of murder for something he wouldn’t admit to and something that she only suspected. He swallowed hard and felt something sooth his soul a little, after all he knew what it meant to be the Judge. Hadn’t he don’t exactly what she had offered? At one timeline or another? It was only after Chara murdered his friends did he find it in him for retribution, the battle mage only offered it before anyone got hurt.

Only, he had been hurt in a way, hadn’t he? He still bore the marks in his soul if it wasn’t on his body.

He was going to ask why. Why she would offer such a thing to someone like him, what had he done to gain her loyalty and friendship. Perhaps she had already answered it, in a way; when she had found Felix there had been a connection. An instinct that drove her to protect her newly found Den mate as viciously as the ones she had grown up with, and hadn’t she called him a Den mate?

They were Den mates, at least the mage thought so, and she was offering to murder someone who had done irreparable damage to his soul. Someone who had hurt him in such a way he couldn’t fully comprehend it all, someone who had hurt him in the past over and over.

Sans swallowed hard, overwhelmed and feeling stupid. Lilith sat in front of him, her offer very real and Sans had no doubt that she would do it if he agreed. Slowly, he shook his head no, his voice high and reedy, “No. I don’t…no.”

Slowly, Lilith nodded, her hands still tight around his own, like she was afraid he would run if she let him go. It was a fair assessment based on his track record. “Okay,” she said softly, and squirmed uncomfortably, “Listen, if you want to talk about it, I’ll listen. I’m not…Lola is better at this sort of thing, but I’ll be here if you need…just whatever you need.”

Something untwisted in his soul, and Sans nodded. “Thanks.” He had no doubt that Lilith would still do murder for him if he asked, he knew that battle mages were hardened by war, were territorial and protectively violent, and now he had one by his side. It was an odd sensation to have someone so small compared to his brother or even Asgore, with such a high LV that cared about him. “It’s okay. It doesn’t matter, I’m not hurt.”

Lilith frowned and she squeezed his shoulders, “Sans, don’t say it doesn’t matter, it does. She hurt you, and that matters. No one should be…you don’t deserve to be treated like that.”

“I could have stopped her.” He muttered thickly, his voice again on the verge of cracking, “I could have. I’m stronger than her, I could have stopped it all from happening.”

Lilith paused, feeling heart sick when she quietly asked, “Why didn’t you?” it wasn’t accusatory or blaming, only genuine curiosity.

Sans hunched in on himself, curling up a little tighter into himself and Lilith squeezed his shoulders again. “I…I’m. I was. I _am_ Asgore’s Judge. I’ve…I’ve killed people.”

Confusion rolled through Lilith at his words, not understanding, “Well. Yeah, Sans I’ve seen your LV. Of course, you’ve killed people.” Her voice was slow, and Sans could hear the confusion as she felt like she was stating the obvious.

Sans squirmed, head bowed low and uncertain. “It wasn’t just monster’s I’ve judged. Some of them were, but not all. Lilith, I’ve.” He paused, voice low with shame, “I was the one who took the soul’s of the other six children who fell down here.”

Lilith felt her head tilt, searching Frisk’s memories for confirmation, “I thought Asgore had…”

Sans shook his head no, one hand untangling from Lilith’s, coming to his arm to scratch at the bone hard enough to score. Lilith caught it just as he started to draw marrow, gently stop it by softly circling his hand with her own. “No. Asgore’s LV was already high enough from the war. He couldn’t…it was the Judge’s job to be executioner.”

Lilith snorted, “So he’s a coward.” She said bluntly, annoyed and angry.

Sans shook his head no again, “He just. He’s doing his best, and no one can blame him for what he’s…so many of us are losing hope. We want to get out and…”

His voice trailed off, and Lilith bit her lower lip hard enough to taste blood, and she struggled with what to say next. Sans’s voice was low and getting lower with every sentence he forced out, “I didn’t want to hurt them, I just wanted to help save my people. My brother. I…I wanted to work with the Royal scientists. I wanted to work with my da-.” He cut himself off and ground his teeth.

“I didn’t stop her because I didn’t want you and Paps to know what I am. It was easier to deal with the aftermath of what she does to me then to see you all hate me for what I did.” He surprised himself with how steady his voice stayed, despite how low it was.

He heard Lilith sigh, and she could feel him begin to tremble under her hands as though he braced for her hatred, and she found herself sighing internally, “Sans,” she paused, choosing her words carefully and aiming to be delicate, “I was barely an adult when I went to war. Felix was a child when he went to war, and I have fought against child solders who tried to kill me. _Would_ have killed me. It doesn’t make it right. It doesn’t make it an easier pill to swallow.”

Her face was pulled into a grim understanding, “It takes a toll on your soul. Killing for survival. I can understand your hurt Sans. It’s not… It’s worse when it’s youth coming after you.”

Sans nodded quickly, feeling something burn at his sockets as his emotion roiled, “I didn’t want you to know.”

Nodding along with him, Lilith reached up gently to brush away at the gathering tears, “I know.”

Emotions churning, Sans finally asked, his words thick with emotion, “Can we talk about something else?”

The first soft hiccup had Lilith drawing Sans back into her arms for a hug, squeezing him tightly and allowing him to cling to her in return. His arms wrapped around her ribs and he buried his face into the crook of her neck. His shoulders shook in silent sobs, and Lilith felt her shirt becoming wet.

“Yeah. Of course.” Her mind scrambled for something to talk about, to fill the hurt in his soul, “So. The Salam Witch trials were a thing.” She said desperately, searching for anything to fill the silence. Sans’s shoulders shook harder and the soft noises he made hurt Lilith’s heart.

She scrambled to find something else to talk about, “So. So you like science?” she tried. Lilith felt Sans nod against her, his ribs heaving as he continued to make small, wet noises. Lilith nodded, “Okay. So. What did you study?”

Sans tried to answer, but his words came out garbled and thick, and the words were stuck in his throat. Lilith flailed internally, felt like she failed her most vulnerable Den mate when he needed her the most.

Puckering her lips, Lilith fought to _focus_. There had to be something she could do to, something to ease the pain in his soul. Something that she knew about him that would help draw him away from his panic. Lilith crushed him against her chest a little tighter as she struggled, and a thought popped into her head from a conversation that felt so long ago.

Sans liked the stars.

“Heya buddy.” She said softly, her lips brushing the top of his skull as she tried to get maximum contact with Sans, her voice easy and even, “Before my people were warriors, we were story tellers. We could use our magic to weave imagines, hardened into reality. We didn’t need weapons when my great grandparents were children, and they used their magic for entertainment.”

Sans’s chest was still heaving, his soul drowning in hurt and he tried to focus on Lilith’s even voice. She continued, soft and comforting, “We don’t use our magic for entertainment anymore. We harden our magic into armor and weapons, we use it to fuel our bodies, for strength and endurance. We use it to fight, but that ability is still in there. Somewhere.”

Sans made a wet noise even as he nodded against her chest, trying to calm down. Lilith nodded and started to focus, drawing her magic inward, “I’m not very good at this, it’s a little different then summoning weapons, attacks and armor. Its softer magic, lighter.” Sans lifted his face from her chest, his eye lights pulled tight into pin pricks of despair and he’s desperate to cling to something. 

“Okay.” Lilith said quietly, and slowly allowed her magic to fill her body, flood her muscles and her soul. She pressed it outward and the space around them was flooded in darkness. The monster in her arms whimpered, and clung a little harder to her, his mouth opening to ask what was happening as his soul shuttered.

Lilith shifted them down so that they lay back against the couch, the mage on her back and Sans curled against her chest. She lifted her hands up, glowing soft with ruby magic and she focused hard on the constellations she knew.  

“What are you doing?” Sans managed to ask, his voice cracking a little, but he managed to ask.

“Shh. This is hard enough. Just give me a sec.” she told him as her eyes closed, and she focused on her favorite star patterns; _draco, Hercules, the big and little dipper._ Small spots of red began to fill the blackness above them, ruby magic swirling before becoming tightly packed balls of magic.

More filled the darkness around them, bright and ruby, twinkling around them like stars.

“Okay, the color is wrong, they aren’t usually red but...” Lilith shrugged, and it took Sans a moment to realize what she had done, what the twinkling ruby magic around them were.

“They’re stars.” He gasped softly, feeling something other then horror and pain for the first time in days. The surprise at what he was seeing made his eye lights soften and widen as more and more stars twinkled into existence, and he could feel the heat from the body beneath him as Lilith struggled to maintain the faux night sky around them. He could feel her getting warmer under his bones as she weaved her magic, and the heat sunk into his bones almost pleasantly.  

It helped Sans calm down in small, slow increments. His heavy breathing becoming soft and slow, the tension in his body leeching from him in slow waves. The tight knot that held in all the pain and hurt slowly loosened until finally his breaths came in short, soft pants.

“Sans,” he could hear the strain in her voice, could see her hands tremble as she maintained the magic, “Slow down your breathing. Breath deeper, it’ll help you calm down. Follow my breathing.” Lilith told him, taking deep, slow breaths. Sans mimicked her breaths, slowing his own down, aiming for something deeper.

“There you go Sans.” She sounded out of breath, but the magic around them never once faltered and Sans felt his panic dissipate. His eyes slipped shut, stars twinkling softly around them as Lilith began to brighten the different constellations around them talking about how, long ago, her squads had used stars to navigate the night to bring them home. Stars, to the mages, were hope for something better, a promise for something good.   

When Sans woke hours later, the house was dark and quiet. He could still feel magic throughout the dark house, not only Lilith’s and his own but Papyrus’s, and Sloan’s and Frisk’s as well. It brought him a measure of comfort and for the first time in nearly a week, Sans felt something other than pain or nothingness.

He shifted, still laying on a muscular body, Lilith’s head was at an awkward angle and Sans winced, knowing she was going to be hurting in the morning. Her arms had settled around him, lose and comforting, the fabric at his wrist humming softly as a reminder of the protection she offered to them. To him.

Sans relaxed into her warm frame and promised himself that come morning he would see the mages off to Waterfall.

For now, he curled into Lilith’s warm body and greedily took the comfort for himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans falls into a depressive episode after his encounter with Olivia and has a really hard time coping. Lilith isn't sure how to help beyond getting him to the surface and getting him professional help; she tries to help calm him down by using her magic to show him stars.


	12. Waterfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans and Lilith get the chance to move forward and grow closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello dear readers, 
> 
> This chapter is focusing on moving the story forward and some world building. Sans and Lilith are growing closer, and start to figure things out. 
> 
> Nothing horrible happens in this chapter, but I have written a chapter that I was not expecting to write so this story has been changed from M to E. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Lilith walked silently next to Sans as they followed Frisk through the gate between Snowdin and Waterfall, her stomach turned at the thought of leaving. It was only Papyrus’s reassurance to Lilith that he would ensure that Sans was cared for and he would do what he could to throw Undyne off their trail.

Still, Lilith glanced down at Sans with worry as his eye lights were drawn down and his permanent grin still seemed a little dimmer. They paused as they came into the damp, humid land scape that was waterfall and Lilith took a moment to strip off her winter cloths. Frisk did the same quietly, stuffing the clothing into the backpack before it was slung back over Lilith’s shoulders.

Sans glanced up, feeling oddly at seeing her still wearing his t-shirt, it made him feel strangely warm despite the growing dread. He had been doing better since Lilith had held him and showed him stars with her magic, the few days since then had done him some good and he was finally feeling stronger than he had in more runs then he could remember.

Frisk gave them a curious look, her little head tipping to one side and her face scrunched up. Lilith licked her lips, gripping at the straps of the backpack and fidgeted a little, “You know.” She said slowly, “We could stay a little while longer.” Her face flushed red, and Sans smiled softly at her.

“I’m fine evil mage. Oliva has been avoiding me like the plague and my nightmares aren’t as bad.” His own face went a hue of blue and he scratched at his arm, “Besides, the sooner you get gone the sooner we can be on the surface, right?”   

Lilith nodded slowly, her hands clenching and unclenching nervously at her side, “R-right.” She gave herself a little shake, and offered a small grin, “Just. Call us if you need anything.”

Sans nodded, the blue blush moving down his cervical vertebra and he glanced down, “Yeah. I will. I mean, you too.”

For a long moment they just stared at each other awkwardly, unable to shake away the experiences they had endured together, so much in such a few days; Lilith had taken comfort in having Sans by her side, even while she held him when he was hurt and broken.

He looked better, he did, but his smile didn’t always reach his eyes and Lilith would still catch him looking hurt and sad. She didn’t want to leave him alone, she wanted to make him smile and make him laugh.

“Do. Do you want to come with us?” she asked, feeling awkward and suddenly stupid.

“Yeah.” He said unexpectedly, surprising himself and he shook his head, “But Frisk needs to befriend the monsters on her own. I can’t be a buffer for her. Or you.”

Lilith frowned and she squirmed again, nodding, “Okay.” She said slowly, glancing at the fabric around his wrist. “Just keep that on.”

“Don’t worry, this won’t be coming off anytime soon.” He reassured her, waving his wrist a little to show her the glowing blue fabric, “Just be careful. There’s people out there that care a whole lot about you guys.”

Lilith gave him a small smile, and nodded to him, “You too Sans.” She bit her lip and quietly said, “Well. See you.”

Sans gave her a small wave, watching her hesitantly turned away and slowly followed Frisk down another path along to Waterfall, leaving Sans on his own. He waited until the two mages turned into another hall, crossing the first bride into Waterfall.

He paused, knotted his fingers together nervously and took a short cut to the top of the waterfall, quietly watching them cross the bridge. Sans sighed in relief even as he crouched in the knee-deep water, soaking his shorts as Frist took Lilith’s hand to disappear behind the curtain of water to retrieve the tutu there.

An old memory, of a young girl with a patient soul trembling before his power stared up at him with big doe eyes and tears. A young girl who had only wanted to go home in time for her dance recital, and he had…

Sans jerked away from the edge of the waterfall, guilt hammering into his soul and made him feel sick. He wanted a drink, something strong enough to knock him on his ass and help him forget when she quietly pleaded for her life or the way that Asgore had looked so pleased when Sans brought him the first human soul.

“You will keep that on.” Lilith’s firm voice came from the cavern suddenly, drawing Sans from his memories and dark thoughts. Their presence relaxed him, made him feel better about everything. It wasn’t healthy, he was sure, to take such comfort in someone else. Yet, it gave him a measure of comfort he hadn’t had in a very long time.

Sans watched at Frisk’s back, her shoulders moving as she signed at her sister, and Sans was certain her hands were a flutter of movement and how Lilith’s eyes watched her very carefully. A grin curled with amusement when her eyes narrowed on her little sister, Lilith took her hand as they crossed the slick bridge. “I don’t care.” Lilith told Frisk firmly, “It’s been embedded with magic and it’s got the best defense I’ve seen on a piece of armor yet. So keep it on.”

Frisk glowered at her older sister in a way that only a younger one could, tugging at Lilith’s hand to get her attention. Lilith turned and Frisk’s hands were a flurry of movement again that made Lilith scowl.

“You will keep it on.” Lilith hissed angrily, “I have enough defense, I don’t need it.”

Frisk huffed at her older sister, annoyed as she followed Lilith, adjusting the tutu around her waist. Sans watched them both slip through another cave entrance where they would hide away in the long grass while Undyne hunted them.

Sans swallowed hard, rubbing his eyes; he was tired and stressed, and right now his brother was likely getting his ass handed to him by Undyne. His nerves were frayed, and the thought of his brother getting chewed out put him on edge. He only hoped that Lilith kept enough wits about her to not go stomping over the edge of the embankment to punch Undyne in the face.

He honestly wouldn’t put it past the battle mage if she thought Undyne posed a threat to Papyrus and honestly, Sans wasn’t ready to deal with that fight yet.

Groaning, Sans rubbed his face with the palms of his hands and heaved a sigh. He needed to relax, he needed to be calm if he was going to be of any use to Frisk or Lilith. He needed his soul to stop fluttering like a bird in his rib cage.

“I’ve got to admit.” A small, annoyed voice said to his left, “I didn’t think Frisk’s bitchy sister would be this much trouble.”

Sans froze before his head snapped to his left, his left eye erupting with gold and blue magic, “You.” He growled coldly; eyes narrowed on the bright yellow flower that smiled coldly up at him.

His little eyes rolled in annoyance and Flowey bared his tiny fangs at Sans, “I didn’t think that Frisk had it in her to do this. I didn’t think she’d have come from a vicious family, what she said to you. How she offered to kill for you.”   

Sans glared at him, baring his teeth with a low growl that rumbled from his chest despite the dread that filled his soul, “You little mother fu-“

“She’s annoying.” Its little eyes rolled in exasperation, “So of course you like her. And what she did with Chara, we’re almost impressed with what she managed to do. Finding a way to keep her from you. Keep her from anyone who wears those fucking bloody strips of fabric.” Flowey smirked, “Chara told me all about how you turned your little pal into a pin cushion, gotta say smiley trash bag, its HI-LAR-I-OUS!”

Flowey laughed bitterly, “And all that yummy magic. So much extra to absorb.” He looked in the direction the two mages went in, his smile becoming cruel, “Be a shame if anything happened to her, huh trash bag?”

Flowey barely dodged the bone that swung just above his upper most petals, disappearing back under ground with a cackle, leaving Sans alone once more with the sound of rushing water. He stared angrily after Flowey, panting hard as his hands shook; the soothing sounds of water mocking him. Had that been a threat? Flowey never approached him anymore, not so boldly, even now.

Swallowing hard, Sans gulped down air a little bit, nervous and suddenly uncertain. Could Flowey see Chara? After all this time, could the little shit be chatting with her? Was she still watching him? A shiver went down Sans’s spine and the gripped the cloth around his wrist almost desperately.

Sloan and Lilith had said that the magic would protect him, keep Chara away from him, but what if that only meant that Sans couldn’t hear her? What if she could still be around, watching him? The thought made him sick, and the magic in his bones prickled. Great, he had a stalker.

Or a haunting, and he snorted at his own joke, thinking he should probably tell Lilith that one.  

The fabric hummed happily, Sloan’s magic sinking softly into his bones as though there was nothing amiss. Chewing on his inner cheek, the magic that made up his face giving a little, Sans sighed softly as uncertainty filled him. He had no doubt that Lilith and Frisk could defend themselves if need be. Or call for help if really pushed, but what did Flowey mean when he said there was so much extra magic to absorb? It didn’t make sense, and was he threatening Lilith?

Sans didn’t think he would need to worry about her, but he…did. Flowey, and Chara, were more powerful than they had let on. They were dangerous, and what if they caught Lilith and Frisk off guard? What if they hurt them? How many close calls had there been because of them? How many times had they won, and Sans was too lazy to consider other options?

Clenching his jaw, Sans made a choice and slipped into a shortcut.

He reappeared where he thought they should have been by now, the puzzle with the bridge seeds, just past where Undyne had missed them. Coming out of the shortcut, Sans opened his mouth to call out for the mages when he felt a hand grab the back of his sweater and he was slammed face first into the wall, just below the Bell Blossom.

His skull bounced painfully from the rock, and there was no ill intent behind the attack, just a bang to his chin and he saw stars. The Bell Blossom chimed quietly as a larger, heavier body pressed into his back, pinning him to the wall.

For a moment, neither he nor his attacker moved until he heard a soft gasp behind his skull, “Sans! Shit, are you alright? You just appeared and I reacted…” he was pulled gently away from the wall and spun around to Lilith’s worried eyes.

He grinned lazily at her, eyes half lidded, and his soul did that weird flutter again when she stared at him with worry, “Awww I knew you’d be so _shovey_ to see me.”

Lilith’s face fell, and she gave him a flat look, “Yeah, you’re okay.”

“Oh, come on evil mage. I know your _pushing_ to see me. I know we got off to a _rocky_ start, but that’s no reason to _push_ me away.” His soul felt lighter than it had in days, warmer maybe, despite the light throb from his chin.

Shaking her head, Lilith huffed at him gently rubbing her thumb over the small scrape with a frown, “You’re such a brat.” She paused, and a moment of guilt crossed her face, “But are you okay? You’re HP is low, I could have hurt you.”

Gently pushing her hands away, Sans grinned at her, “I’m fine Lil, my skull is _rock_ hard.”

Lilith rolled her eyes, but she still smiled slightly at him. The grin made his soul swell and Sans ruthlessly pushed it down.

“Yeah. Okay.” She glanced back to her sister as Frisk finished the last of the flower bridge puzzle, “Thought you weren’t coming with us?” she asked lightly, standing a little too still.

Sans shrugged, following the sisters as they crossed the bridge, “Wasn’t. I was telling the truth when I said I can’t be a buffer for you and the other monsters.”

Lilith nodded as they carefully crossed the bridge, Frisk looking back to give Sans a small frown. “Buuut I had a little visit from a little yellow flower.” He said carefully, gauging how they would react.

Frisk frowned, looking sad and heart sick, while Lilith froze, her eyes narrowing and filing with crimson magic, “Flowey?” she asked carefully.

Sans nodded, turning to give Frisk his attention as her hands moved.

_“Flowey hasn’t approached you in at least a dozen resets. Why did he do that?”_

“Dunno.” Sans shrugged as they came into the hallway with echo flowers. “But he kept saying weird things, talking about absorbing magic.”

Lilith frowned at the first echo flower, listening to it tell about how monsters used to wish upon stars before she moved away as to not overwrite the message, “You think it was a threat?”

Sans paused, watching as Lilith looked up to the celling of the wishing room an almost smile on her face as she watched the gems sparkle. She was awfully…pretty. When she wasn’t encased in armor or violent magic. She seemed younger when she was distracted, softer somehow without the harshness of the world on his shoulders.  

“I think so.” Sans said quietly, his own smile soft while he watched her, “But I don’t know how she could threaten us. If she can’t get at us through our dreams, it’s not like she can hurt us on this plane of existence.”  

Lilith shook her head, nose scrunching in thought, and Sans forced himself to look away at the _adorable_ expression, “I dunno.” They followed Frisk as she opened the hidden doorway onto the bridge. Lilith’s steps were slow as she read the plaques on the wall, “Not much is known about time mages. They’re rare and powerful ones even more so.” She glanced to her little sister with a worried frown, “I also don’t know much about poltergeists or what sort of power she might have.”

They came to the end of the bridge, stepping onto the platform to cross the river, deep in thought. Sans felt himself swallowing hard, pressing into Lilith’s side as they all squeezed onto the tiny platform together. He felt his face heat, and he wondered where the hell that had come from and what the hell was wrong with him? Why was he feeling this way?

_“What if she’s trying to use a spell? Or take back the strength to reset events?”_ Frisk asked as they stepped off the moving platform. She looked worried, feeling just as much out of sorts as Sans did. This wasn’t the game they were used to playing, and the unknown unnerved Frisk just as much.

Well, at least Sans wasn’t alone in that aspect.   

“Maybe. I mean, it’s what I would do if I where her. Consolidate power and strike when the time benefits me.” Lilith said firmly, one arm crossed over her chest with one elbow resting on the other so she could tap her chin with an index finger, “It makes sense to take out the strongest players, weaken the-“ Lilith froze, her body becoming stiff and her eyes widened.

The hair on the back of her neck lifted and she could smell _violence_ in the air. Cruel intent, determination. Someone was looking for a fight. Lilith could sense it, could practically taste it in the air; that sixth sense to violence had saved her life repeatedly for well over three hundred years.

Eyes glowed from the dim, hazy darkness from between the thick pillars of stone, obscuring the view into the inky gloom. A glowing blue spear shot through the darkness, separating Frisk and Sans from Lilith, parting their group easily.

Sans grabbed the back of Frisk’s shirt, yanking her backwards with eyes wide and his soul felt tight as Undyne stepped from the darkness. She was breathing hard, fists clenched hard while her armor gleamed in the dim light, and it looked like a living thing. Three more spears appeared over Undyne’s head, sharp and deadly before they were launched at them.

Sans dragged Frisk into a shortcut, appearing part way down the wooden dock as the blue magic exploded against the wood; Lilith threw herself backwards, using a gravity disk to launch herself back. Her booted feet skidded against the wet wood backwards with gritted teeth as Sans stepped easily from the shortcut, clinging to Frisk before he shoved her behind him.

Lilith’s eyes were wide and angry, her body becoming loose when she looked at them, “Run.” She ground out loudly from between clenched teeth before she became smoke and magic, flickering out of existence. Sans felt panic choke him suddenly, his hand tightening on Frisk’s forearm and fear made him worry that the mage would do something stupid.

Frisk whimpered at his back, gripping back onto Sans just as hard and he truly understood just how terrified Frisk had been during all her runs through the underground. Guilt joined the panic in his soul, he didn’t have to leave the kid alone, he shouldn’t have. Sans was sure that he could have done something long before now. Maybe. 

Crimson magic suddenly flashed behind Undyne and Lilith spun into existence high over the monsters left shoulder; Lilith’s face was cold fury as she brought duo swords down onto Undyne midair. The monster spun at the feeling of something at her back, lifting her arm to block the blow, the swords slamming into metal armor with a deafening clang.

The moment Lilith’s feet touch the soft earth, she charged. Her magic dissipated from her hands as she flooded her muscles with power; wrapping her arms around Undyne’s waist, Lilith hit her like a linebacker right at her middle, shoving them both into the cold water with a splash.

Sans took a desperate step forward, Frisk still clinging to him as he did so, and they waited for one of them to surface. The water bubbled violently where they had gone in, flashes of blue and red magic lighting up the dark water under the dock in a kaleidoscope of magic, and Sans found himself holding his breath. He hoped it would be Lilith that surfaced, he hoped with everything he had in him, slowly approaching the edge of the dock where they had both gone in. There was a very real fear that Lilith’s body would surface, void of life and empty. Those cold eyes dead and that almost their shy smile no longer flickering at him and the thought made him choke.

It was a very real fear, Undyne could breathe under water, Lilith could not, and Sans didn’t know if her healing ability would bring her back from death. 

A sharp tug at his elbow made Sans pause to look down at Frisk. Her eyes were wide and afraid while she clung to his hoody, her lower lip truly trembling in fear for the first time he had known her. It reminded Sans that Frisk was still just a child, and all of this was scary. He knew he should have done more for her. He should have shoved his own feelings and failing down and done right by the kid.   

_“We need to go!”_  she signed desperately up at him, not daring to look at the still bubbling water. Sans couldn’t be sure, but it looked like the bubbles where beginning to slow with no sign of either warrior surfacing. _“Please Sans!”_

He looked once more into the water desperate to find his friend, afraid he would find her dead and would never again try to not laugh at one of his puns. Yet, Frisk clung to him, small and afraid in a game that neither of them understood how to play anymore.

He wrapped an arm around Frisk just as the bubbles from the water stopped and stepped into a shortcut.

They came back out by his telescope, and Sans hoped that he hadn’t made the wrong choice. Sitting with his back against the wall, he pulled Frisk against his side to wait even as the guilt made his soul fold in half.  

-

Lilith drove her fist into Undyne’s helmet once again, the water slowing down her attack, so she pumped more magic into her muscles to increase the speed. Blood bloomed into the dark water and pain sparked sharp and knife like from her knuckles from the attempt to escape. Perhaps it had not been wise to tackle a water monster into a lake, but Lilith hadn’t thought, she just reacted to seeing a threat attacking her sister and her skeleton.

That thought made her pause, even as her lungs burned with the need for air, magic kept her head clear and her body functioning. Where had that thought come from? When had she thought to become so protective of Sans?

Lilith struggled harder against Undyne’s hold, kicking her hard enough in the chest that her breast plate gave inward with the force and that had been just enough give for Lilith to surge towards the surface.

She broke the surface of the water with an open mouth gasp of air, hands desperately reaching for the wooden dock. They latched on with an iron grip and Lilith hung on for all her worth as Undyne grabbed her leg from under the water. She cried out as her shoulders jerked, piercing pain sending shock waves through her body.

With a grunt of effort, Lilith pulled her magic inward before becoming smoke to drag Undyne back onto the dock with her; they landed with a thud and Lilith used the moment of disorientating to her advantage.

The mage spun onto her back, kicking Undyne square in the face with the heel of her foot. The monster cried out as her helmet gave a little, pressing inward towards the soft scales of her cheek. The moment Undyne released her, Lilith pushed herself backwards to roll onto her feet.

Although still lacking her armor, Lilith was light on the balls of her feet and ready for a fight. Everything in her screamed at her to attack, to finish the job and to stop a large threat from hurting Frisk and Sans. It would be easy now. Undyne was injured and distracted, the right angle of her sword at the nape of her neck and Undyne would be dust.  

And yet… 

And yet Lilith knew that Undyne was one of Frisk’s best friends. Undyne was Papyrus’s best friend, one of his only _good_ friends, and Lilith couldn’t take that away from them.

Growling low in her throat, Lilith watched Undyne struggle a little longer, trying to twist her damaged helmet from her head as the bent metal dug into the flesh of her cheek. It was a tactical retreat Lilith was certain as she spun and began to run down the dock towards the long grass that she knew Monster Kid would be hiding in. Her feet slapped against the damp wood hard and she pushed herself to run faster before she dissolved once more into smoke and magic, tracing away. She reappeared further down the gangway, as far as her eye could see before she dissolved again.

With a curse, Undyne yanked her helmet off, leaving a large gash through her cheek when she finally freed herself of it.

With another dark curse, Undyne threw her helmet bitterly and it bounced off the damp wood of the gangway before it settled with a clang near the edge. With grit teeth Undyne shoved herself to her feet and she looked for the brats. When she found nothing but empty air with her Undyne howled in rage, Sans’s name torn from her chest in a bitter, angry cry.

Bitter betrayal was sudden and hot in her chest, unexpected when she had seen Sans with the humans. She had seen how the sentry would smile up at the taller one, how the human had softened towards him, almost as though they were fond of each other. It was disgusting. It was a betrayal to all monster kind. It was the worse kind of hurt to have a friend turn on you, and Sans had turned on all of them to help the humans.

Oh, she was going to have words with the little sentry when she found him.

A thought suddenly popped into her mind, sharp and bitter; what if Sans was not helping them on his own free will? It would certainly make sense, Sans was the Judge, he hated humans as much as any of them. They must have found a way to black mail him into helping them, it was the only thing that made any sense.

Balling her hands into fists, Undyne grit her sharp teeth and her smile pulled into a cruel one. She would find the humans and harvest their souls and would save Papyrus’s lazy brother. She would ensure that nothing bad happened to him and she brought Sans back to Papyrus safe and sound.

Charging after the mage, Undyne’s heavy boots clanged against the gang way hard as she bolted after them.

-

When Sans saw Lilith jogging off the dock, he wasn’t sure he had ever felt so relieved as he had in that moment. Next to him Frisk clapped her hands hard before he used his shoulder to shove herself to her feet so that she could run to her older sister.

Sans could tell the moment Lilith spotted her sister, her usually cold face lit up in delight and she seemed so much younger. So much happier and for a moment she wasn’t a war worn solider, but an ecstatic older sister who was relieved to see her baby sister.

For a moment, Sans wondered what it would feel like to have such a soft, happy look directed at him. He shoved that thought away hard as he pushed himself to his own feet as Frisk threw herself at Lilith, and he smirked when Lilith scooped her up to squeeze Frisk to her chest.

“Soo,” he drawled lazily, his Hotland accent coming out in the small word, “You made it out. Gotta admit evil mage, I’m impressed.”

Lilith blinked at him before a smirk crawled over her lips, “You haven’t seen nothing yet.”

Sans smirk matched hers and Lilith crossed the small distance to him, giving his shoulder a little nudge, “Thanks for taking care of Frisk.”  

 He nodded up at her with a wink, “’Course.” His grin grew a little, “I mean, after your _dip_ with Undyne, someone had to make sure Frisk was safe. I’m sure you made a _splash_ with her, and she has such a _bubbling_ personality. Buuuut, I can’t help but feel that she won’t find you _raining_ attacks on her as amusing as I do. Afterall, not many people can escape that _typhon._ ”

Still holding Frisk, Lilith just stared at Sans blankly before her smirk began to grow slowly. Sans smirked back at her, until she snorted softly, covering up her laugh, “You’re the worse.” She said lightly as she put Frisk back on the ground, her words soft and teasing.

Sans grinned back at her, not taking offence, “When will you admit you love my puns?” he asked with a fake hurt expression.

“But that would give you power, and the _rip tide_ of puns will never end.” She smirked at Sans when he chortled, falling in step with her as Frisk bounced ahead.

They fell in step, side by side as they went down the next gangway and found more echo flowers. They stood back when a Moldsmall approached Frisk, letting her handle things on her own, Lilith far calmer then when she had first encountered a monster back in Snowdin.

Yet, her magic was always at her fingertips. Always there and ready to be used.

 “You, ah. Didn’t actually hurt her. Did you?” Sans asked softly as Frisk wriggled her hips at the Moldsmall, and the jelly like monster wriggled back.

Lilith shook her head no, “No. It would have hurt Papyrus if I seriously hurt Undyne and I couldn’t do that to him.” She gave him a one shoulder shrug, “I dented her helmet and retreated.”

Sans nodded, relieved, “Thanks.”

Lilith nodded back, “Anytime.”

When she smiled at him, Sans felt his soul swell in his chest and for once he didn’t push it down. Taking a moment to bask in the warm feeling, he smiled back at her and wondered why he felt like that when she smiled at him.

-

The rest of the trip through Waterfall was relatively boring.

Sans and Lilith would stay back when Frisk encountered monsters, ensuring they were not acting as a buffer between her and all the others. Allowing her to befriend them all on her own for the ninety-fourth time

Then they would carry on down one of the gangways, and bright blue water.

Lilith and Sans always kept an eye out for Flowey, and only once Sans was certain he saw the little bastard out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to look however, he was long gone, leaving no trace of him ever being there.

It was unnerving, to think that Flowey was trailing them and that Chara was likely still around. Watching them, clearly, waiting for something.

Yet, over all the trip through Waterfall was peaceful, pretty with the glowing blue water and light crystals but ultimately boring.

So, Sans and Lilith chatted about nothing, dutifully following Frisk;

_I’m telling you. The white cheddar macaroni is better then the orange cheese macaroni._

_Well, I won’t say your wrong evil mage, buuuut…._

They talked about what was on the surface;

_They did not send someone to the moon. Come on, that can’t be possible. We’re years away from that kind of tech._

_Sans, you have a phone that is an interdimensional box. Of course we have that kind of technology now._

_That’s magic! How did you even get up there?_

_I dunno, I don’t work for NASA. I think it had to do with strapping rockets onto a ship and more or less launching ourselves into space with explosions._

_You expect me to believe that you got to space with explosions?_

_Yes?_

_Stars above, I don’t think its only battle mages who lack self-preservation. It’s a human thing._

_Well, you’re not wrong. We did explore the north and south pole by just sending people. When those people didn’t come back, we just sent more people._

_What is wrong with humanity?_

They encouraged Frisk to practice with her magic;

_Come on kiddo. You gotta keep working on those saves, it’s a whole new game now and we don’t know when Flowey or Chara are gonna try a play dirty._

They paused to talk with Onionsan, and Sans had to sooth Lilith’s anger over him being left behind by all the others;

_They left him! Why didn’t anyone come for him?_

_I don’t know Lilith._

_Why didn’t Asgore come for him? If he’s such a great fucking king, why not build more space for all the water monsters? Why does Onionsan have to stay in a space that’s too tight for him?_

_I don’t know Lilith. But… resources are getting sparse. Fewer and fewer things are falling underground. Food, water, clothing. Everything, people are losing hope and we had to make choices for the greater good. We had to use the material we had to help as many monsters as we could._

_That still doesn’t make it right._

_It doesn’t. But. We’ve got Frisk here, and we’ve got you. We’ll make it to the surface._

_Yeah, we will. And we’re going to need a big fucking crane to get Ontionsan out of that pond._

_Heh. That was such an_ uplifting _speech._

_You’re the worse._

_Heh, you love it._

_I admit nothing that could be used against me. I’m going to punch Asgore in the nose though._

_That’s not nice._

_Nope. Sure isn’t. Still going to do it though._

Lilith is nothing but amused when Frisk gets Shyren to sing her lovely song, and Sans sells ticket made of toilet paper.

_Where the hell did you even get toilet paper?_

_Lili. Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers too._

They solve the statue puzzle and find the legendary artifact. Sans couldn’t stop laughing at Lilith’s reaction when Annoying dog ate it like a duck eating a sandwich.

_Are you fucking kidding me! After all that? He just. We just. He ate it!_

  _He sure did._

_How did he even get into our inventory!_

They talked a little bit about the accident in Sans room;

_Did we ever clean up the blood from your mattress?_

_Nooope._

_Hmm. I would say burn it, but mage blood has a lot of magical property. We’d better give it to Sloan to work with._

_That’s…that’s gross Lilith, and coming from me, that’s saying something._

_What, mage blood is really hard to come by._

They talked about human history and what happened after monsters were locked away under the mountain;

_Between the witch hunts and the war, our population suffered. There’s not as many of us as there used to be, so our territories almost tripled after we came home from the war. The territory that we protect used to belong to three different Dens from my coven. All three were wiped out, two from the war and one from the witch hunts. It’s a lot of ground to cover, and a lot of subspecies that live there. We don’t mind._

_The humans don’t mind?_

_No, they’re pretty happy to have us there. Keep them safe from wraths and other mages who have turned to mercenary work after the war. Sloan will also help the farms with their crops, Lola goes to hospitals to heal the sick, and we fund different social programs on the surface. We fund two homeless shelters that help people get back on their feet, one women’s shelter for those fleeing domestic abuse and three orphanages’ just within Ebott. There are others in our territories as well._

_Where do you get the money to fund all this?_

_We invested wisely and carefully. Even when the war was in full swing, we made money. There’s also a tax for living on mage-controlled land that goes to help fund all of this._

_What if people can’t pay the tax?_

_We find another way for them to help. We’re not above making deals that benefit both parties involved. There’s a cattle ranch near us that help provide food for the dragons, and another farm that provides the five of us with food for the year. We only take what we need to survive and nothing more. If we want extra, we’ll pay for it. There’s a couple of seamstresses that make and repair our cloths._

_What about the humans outside of your territories? The ones who don’t like you?_

_We stay away. Even if a wrath is destroying their town, we won’t intervene. I tried once, to stop a wrath from destroying this town just outside of our territory. They shot me twice in the chest for my trouble after I’d killed the wrath. Told me they didn’t want my help. So, we don’t help if we’re not invited in. Even if their crops are dying because of a drought, even if their children are sick and even if there are murders, we leave them be unless they ask for help._

_Do they? Ask?_

_Not once. Even when a really bad flu was going around one winter and anyone with the ability to heal was working overtime to save people. A lot of people died, a lot of the elderly and a lot of young kids didn’t make it, they just didn’t have the immune system to fight it off. When you look at the stats of where those people lived, most of them lived in communities where they refused help._

_They just let their kids die rather then ask for your help?_

_Yeah, yeah they did._

Sans found the courage to ask what a Den was and how that magic worked.

_True Den mates will feel a pull at each other’s magic. A connection, a click that the entire Den will feel. It’s like there’s a missing piece in your magic. Or…or your soul that’s filled with your Den mates. It’s like being able to face off against an army and knowing you’ll make it through because you have you Den with you._

_But, there’s so few of us left. So many mages have died that the Den bonds are becoming rare, so young mages who are looking to leave their parents Den will petition other Dens to join them until they find their own Den._

_Do mages ever want to join you? I mean, you have a lot of land to cover, it would make sense you’d need the help._

_No. Never. No one has ever petitioned to join our Den._

_Why not?_

_They. They’re afraid of us. Afraid of our LoVe and the depth of our magical power. We helped win the war Sans, but our reputation is worse than that of any other Den’s. They think that because we won’t have fully realized Den bonds that we’ll be more likely to kill them. It’s not. We would never, but. Our reputation keeps them away._

It hurt Sans to know that, to see how Lilith’s eyes would turn down like she was some how at fault. Like she hadn’t bled and sacrificed for her Coven. That her entire Den hadn’t suffered, and broke and rebuilt themselves into something _necessary_ for them to survive the war. 

Hell, Lilith bore the insignia of _Death_ on her wrist as proof of the chaos she had wrought for the people that now shunned her and her Den. Lilith and her own had suffered for their Coven, and Sans suddenly _hated_ the fact that the other Dens of her Coven had abandoned them.

It made indignation swell on behalf of Lilith, and Sans felt the _Judge_ bubble hotly in his bones. Anger flickered through his soul at her hurt, at the hurt of her Den. He thinks of Sloan, who went out of her way to help him, of Felix and Lola who Sans had only met in memories but knew they were loved. Of Ryder, who Sans was still to meet.

Sans pushed it down, tried to ignore the growing anger and focused on making her smile. His hand slipped into hers, and his skeletal fingers wrapped around Lilith’s hand to squeeze softly.

It drew her gaze up to his, and Lilith’s smile was warm when she directed her smile at him. It made his soul sing to see that soft look directed at him, and he grinned back at her in something that was a little easier. A little more real.

He liked Lilith, he realized. He really liked her, and he wanted to see the surface with her. He wanted to hold her hand on the surface and see her smile in the sun. He wanted her to show him the dragon flock and meet the coven of vampires. He wanted to do her proud, he wanted her to be happy.

His breath caught a little when he realized he wanted to make her happy, and he shoved that thought away. It wouldn’t matter, she wouldn’t want him. How could someone like her want someone like him?

He could be her friend though, and Sans was resigned to that.

-

By the time they met up with Monster Kid, meeting him officially in this timeline, Lilith found a sense of comfort with Sans. Like they had been friends for ages rather than days, and Lilith didn’t hold it against him that she had seen him at his lowest.  

Sans and Lilith walked slowly together under an umbrella that Lilith held behind the children. Frisk held her umbrella up high, pressing in close to her friend as they chatted excitedly.

Lilith frowned, glancing at Sans when Monster Kid gushed about Undyne, and Lilith realized just how beloved the Captain of the Royal Guard was by the people. It made what she was sure about to happen much more bearable.

She sighed heavily, giving Sans a concerned look, “I’m getting stabbed today, aren’t I?”

Sans looked up at her, eye-lights bright with his own worry, “I dunno Lil. You’re pretty good at dodging.” Lilith just frowned at him, not entirely certain that she was good at dodging. She was good at holding her ground.

By the time they made it to the opening to see the castle, Sans was exhausted and looked like he was asleep standing up. Lilith frowned at him, remembering that despite is LV Sans was still a low HP monster and didn’t have the energy for this sort of trip.

Lilith had stopped to admire the castle, knowing that soon they would be squaring off against Undyne when Sans tripped hard enough to fall to his knees. Reacting to her Den mate falling to his knees, Lilith dropped the umbrella to catch him, slowing his fall so he didn’t hurt himself.

“Heh, nice catch.” He muttered tiredly, his head bobbing sleepily as the ran soaking their cloths, his shoulders warm where she gripped him and Sans hated that he liked it so much.

Lilith smiled at him and lowered him to the ground to look at his knees, the rain making their cloths stick to their bodies quickly with warm water and Sans felt heavy with his sweater getting soaked, “Your knee looks okay.” Dark eyes glanced up, and that easy smile made Sans’s soul swell again, “You going to make it there?”

Eyes drooping, Sans offered a weak smile, “Sure. I’m like the energizer bunny.”

Lilith made an unconvinced noise, raising a brow at him, “Pretty sure you’re like the opposite of the energizer bunny Sans.”

“Hmm.” Sans’s eyes slid shut and he wobbled, “Just need a minute.”

Lilith looked up at Frist and Monster Kid, their little faces pulled into looks of concern as they stood under their umbrella. She gave them a small, reassuring smile before gently picking Sans up; standing slowly she grabbed the umbrella and kept walking.

Sans went limp against her, arms over Lilith’s shoulders and his legs dangled loose over her hips. He hummed when he pressed his face into the crook of her neck and Lilith took a minute to get her arm settled under his sacrum. This was nice, the mage was comforting and solid, something he could cling to in his sleep.

“You’re warm.” He muttered as he began to drift off to sleep with the sound of the rain pattering over the umbrella.

“LV makes me warmer.” Lilith said softly back, “My magic is more concentrated. Get some sleep Sans.”

Sans nodded against her shoulder, his frame giving out when he finally fell asleep.

Pulling him protectively against her chest, Lilith took one last look at the castle before she tuned back to Frisk and Monster Kid. She ignored Frisk’s smirking face and snuggled Sans a little more closely, only pausing a moment to think about why she did that.

Lilith ignored the warm feeling in her chest that made her feel like a giddy teenager and slipped into the cavern where another box of umbrella’s was tucked away. She lifted Sans hood up to keep the rain from his skull and smiled when she felt his soul thumb through his body, warm and real. He was kinder than most humans on the surface, he could make her laugh without dragging someone else. Sans was…

Lilith suddenly went bright red and her own soul swelled at her thought. She paused and considered what this meant as she gently lifted Sans, then Frisk and then Monster Kid up onto the ledge before pulling herself up with them. Scooping Sans back up, to follow along, her smile creeping across her face slowly; she wasn’t one to hide form her emotions, and she was stating to maybe. Like. Sans?

Lilith sighed, feeling a little giddy and it took her a moment to remember that she had never been able to be a giddy teenager. She had never had time to have a crush, and any experience with partners had been wrought out of desperation, the need to feel something that wasn’t pain, some way to vent pent up frustrations.

She was starting to like the small, low HP, monster who had the drive of a sloth. Not exactly the type of mate she would have chosen for herself, but these things happened. Lilith sighed again, taking a moment to cuddle with Sans again, and she thought of her Den mate. Felix was going to have a hay day with this if he ever found out about her little crush; he would take this and run with it _forever_.

Honestly, what wasn’t to like thought? Sans could be a brat, for sure. He had the capacity to be an ass but she had also seen him at his most vulnerable. She had seen how much he loved his brother, and his people. She had seen that when Sans was in, he was in 110%.

Getting Sans to care could be a challenge and half, but he had come for them when he thought they would need help. When he thought Flowey might hurt them.

He was tougher then he gave himself credit for, and well, Lilith could respect that.

The warm feeling that filled Lilith’s chest, filled her with determination.


	13. Undyne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne chases Lilith and Sans through Waterfall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey readers, as a heads up be sure to read the tags and the warnings. There is a fair amount of violence in this chapter, minor gore and a ton of blood loss. Please keep yourselves safe when reading.

Lilith decided she hated Waterfall.

It wasn’t because it was boring. It wasn’t because it was always damp and humid in a way that made her sweat despite the lack of sun. It wasn’t because is stank like three-day old garbage over the largest bridge; a bridge that _made no sense_ and had a number of useless dead ends.

No, Lilith decided she hated Waterfall because Undyne had _absolutely_ no chill.

Lilith backed up a little further, crushing Sans to her chest as he slumbered on, trusting her to take care of him while he was vulnerable; behind her Monster Kid and Frisk whimpered, Frisk clinging to her little friend and the back of her pant leg.

“Give me the sentry.” Undyne hissed angrily, her bright yellow eye glancing from Sans to Monster Kid and back again. “And give me the punk.”

Lilith swallowed hard, glancing back to MK and his utter look of hurt and betrayal, then back to Sans. She settled on her answer, “Go fuck yourself.”

Undyne’s face darkened into rage and she took another step forward, but Lilith had nowhere left to go. Blue magic flashed in the monster’s hand as she summoned a spear, like the ones that she had used to chase them since they stepped onto this stupid, useless bridge.

“Give me Sans.” She hissed, “He’s delicate.”

It hit Lilith than that Undyne saw her as a threat. A threat to her best friends’ lazy older brother and a helpless kid from Snowdin. Even if she was angry at him, Lilith was still the bigger threat.

Lilith shifted her body so that her whole side was to Undyne, putting herself between the frightened children and the Captain of the Royal Guard. She summoned a long sword, holding it in front of them easily, her LV bubbling hotly and demanding she protect her people, “Let us pass.”

Undyne hissed, angry and aggressive, “Give me the punks!” she sneered, tossing the spear. Lilith reacting just as fast, tossing her sword with practice ease.

Blue and red magic slammed into each other over the damp, old wooden planks. The powerful magical attacks shook the bridge and those old, rotting planks gave way.

Lilith felt her stomach drop as she fell, and she clung to Sans tighter; Monster Kid screamed, and Frisk flailed helplessly. Plunging into the dark water below, Lilith heard Undyne scream Sans name before they were too deep to hear anything from the bridge.

Lilith hated Waterfall.

-

The air was cold in the dump, cold and miserable and it made even Lilith shiver despite her high LV that usually kept her warm. She expelled as much heat as she could to keep Sans and MK warm, the little reptilian monster shivered in his tight ball. He was far too quiet, little face down turned and sad; Lilith ignored it for now, they had to keep moving.  

Sans hadn’t woken up once during the whole ordeal and slumbered on, how, Lilith had no clue. The fall at least should have woken him, or hitting the water, or _something._ Instead he slumbered on, while MK hadn’t been able to keep his head above water and ended up in Lilith’s arms.

By the time they had wadded through the slimy water from the dump, fought the Mad Dummy and made their way to Napstablook’s home, Lilith had hit her limit.

Her LV was agitated, and magic crackled at her fingertips; her head throbbed in time with the beat of her magic at her temples, putting her into a foul mood that had her gritting her teeth far too hard. She wasn’t used to running, she was the one who pushed forward not to fall back and it agitated her further now that she was cold and wet.

Swallowing back her annoyance, Lilith still managed to get Frisk and MK changed into dry cloths, Sans out of his damp hoodie and herself into dry cloths without snapping at anyone.

Draping her winter coat over Frisk and MK, Lilith did her best to tuck them in, her sweater tucked under their little heads as a pillow. She tucked her snow pants around Sans, he felt too cold and she wished Frisk had gotten more warm clothing.

Once out of the soft t-shirt that Sans had given her, and back into one of her own black ones, Lilith missed the softens from Sans’s. It had smelt like hamburgers sure, but it held his magic within the fabric, it felt like him. It was a measure of comfort she wanted back once the shirt dried out.

With an annoyed huff, Lilith curled on the floor near MK, Frisk and Sans, her arm curled under her head. She forced her eyes to close, using magic to press her awareness outward, sensing for any threat. Sensing for Undyne.

Napstablook sighed and settled near them as well, “Ahh. Laying on the ground and feeling like garbage. This is the best.”

Lilith huffed, annoyed and aggravated; she tried to sleep. Knowing she would have to fight sooner rather than later. It was only a matter of time before she had nowhere else to run from Undyne.

-

Lilith wasn’t sure when she had fallen asleep, but she didn’t feel very rested and doubted that she had slept for very long. Her mouth felt dry and her teeth felt like a layer of fuzz was growing in a number of layers.

Sitting up, Lilith stretched as best as she could, stretching her neck as her eyes fell on Sans. He was awake, with his back to the wall with Frisk curled into him from one side, MK cured into the other.

Tired eye-lights looked up at her and he gave her a exhausted smile, “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you. Monster Kid was upset, I uh. He was sad about Undyne.”

Sans glanced down awkwardly, coughing lightly and that shyness made Lilith smile. “He’s sad?”

Sans nodded, “Yeah. I think he’s feeling betrayed by Undyne trying to kill his new pals.” The odd feeling his soul grew, and he looked down feeling awkward.

Lilith shifted slightly, and Sans looked up at her as she settled a little closer to him, Frisk between them and their arms brushed. Her skin was warm at her forearm, soft between the raised scars from battles she had fought in.

He didn’t know why he did it, maybe he was touch starved and Lilith was safe, but Sans leaned towards her and she was solid against his bones. She was someone warm and powerful, someone Sans could count on to have his back no matter what.

Sans only hoped he could be there for her when she needed him too.

“Hey Sans?” she sounded drained, rubbing sleep from her eyes before she stretched against the wall.

“Yeah?” he sounded just as worn out, it had been a long few days and a full night of sleep would have done them some good.

“You doing okay? With everything? After what happened with…” Lilith didn’t say her name, and it still made Sans cringe, pulling in on himself a little.

He gave her a slow shrug, looking down at Frisk as she slept against him, his face falling a little, and his soul pulled into a rare, burning anger. It disappeared quickly into a passive nonchalant shrug, like he didn’t care what had happened to him. He was doing what he did best and was bottling all those feeling up, not caring if the wound didn’t heal clean so long as it didn’t hurt anymore.

Lilith sighed, reaching out to squeeze at his shoulder and Sans found himself leaning into the firm touch, “I don’t want to talk about it Lilith. I’m fine. It’s. Fine.” And he shoved those hurt, dark feelings and thoughts that surrounded Oliva into a box and buried it deep until his soul felt numb.

Lilith sighed softly, it was little more then air softly passing through her nose and she squeezed his shoulder again. She knew this wasn’t healthy, she could see it in Sans face that it hurt him, and the wound was healing jagged and broken. She looked towards her sleeping sister fondly and knew with certainty that once they reached the surface, she was going to see to it that Sans got into therapy.

Sans glanced at her, his face going warm and his smile shaky around the edges while he gathered his fading courage, “Hey evil mage?” He said slowly.

She looked from her slumbering sister, her soft look directed at him and it made his soul sing despite _everything_. She titled towards him a little more so they wouldn’t have to talk so loud and wake Frisk or MK and it put her face a little closer to his own. “Yeah?”

“Thanks.” He felt like he thanked her a lot, and his neck felt hot with how close she was. Her breath was soft against his cheek, her mouth was suddenly very close to his own. If he turned his head even a little bit…

Lilith’s brows furrowed, her face scrunching up in a way that Sans thought was well, cute, “For what?”

Sans opened his mouth to tell her for everything when Napstablook’s door was slammed opened, making both jump away from each other heads snapping towards the door when Undyne stomped inside, looking worried and angry.

“Blooky!” the ghost disappeared with a squeak, and Undyne’s bright yellow eye fell to Sans and Lilith. Both had frozen in their spots, staring at Undyne with wide eyes.

Undyne blinked at them as MK and Frisk lifted their heads from Sans’s chest, looking up at her with fear. They whimpered and clung to Sans a little tighter, trying to bury themselves into his chest.  

The worry dissipated, and only the rage remained. Undyne’s eye narrowed, “Sans.” She growled his name, low and guttural.

Sans blinked at her, a skeletal hand dropping onto Lilith’s shoulder, “Heya Undyne. I caught a human.”

Undyne stalked into the house, and Sans felt himself press into the wall at his back, “This isn’t a joke Sans.” She glanced angrily from Lilith to Frisk and back to Sans. “Those are humans, and _that_ one,” she jabbed an angry finger at Lilith, “is dangerous.”

Sans managed to give her a grin, “Ah come on ‘Dyne. Lilith isn’t so bad.”

“She kicked me in the face.” She snarled, the scabbed injury was shiny and blue against her scales.

“Weeeeell, yeah that happened. But you did sort of try to be a little _stabby_. So fair play.” Sans said lightly, gathering magic inward in preparation to short cut.

Undyne took a step forward and Lilith jolted to her feet, the softness from her face gone and replaced with a hard, dead eyed stare. Magic crackled at her fingertips, and she licked her teeth slowly.

Undyne glared, “Give them to me Sans, or else.” Lilith’s eyes narrowed at a blue spear that was summoned into her hand, pointed low towards the ground.

Despite her exhaustion, Lilith squared up with Undyne and magic began to spread around her; her armor settled around her lightly, like a second skin. It made Lilith looked bigger, bulkier and far more dangerous.

Lilith did something she had never done before, and she did it because Sans was her friend. And Undyne was Sans friend, “Undyne. Let us leave.” She asked for her to stand down.   

Undyne snared, “No. You are the only thing that stands between us and the surface. You are the one standing between everyone’s hopes and dreams.” She glared at Sans, “And I won’t let you or the _traitor_ take everyone’s hopes away. I’ll take your soul, and Asgore will free the monster kingdom.”

Sans pushed himself to his feet slowly, shoving the two kids behind him, “Undyne. Stop it. You know Asgore is full of bullshit. Just. Stop it.”

“Sans, you’re the Judge. What are you doing?” she hissed.

Sans’s own eyes narrowed, annoyed and bitter, “And I’ve judged them. I’ve decided to leave them alone, now do the same _Captain_. They’ve done nothing wrong.”

Sans felt magic crackle at his own fingertips, and he surprised himself by the act of aggression, surprised Undyne when he took a step forward towards her.

Surprise caught Undyne off guard, she couldn’t remember a time when Sans had truly acted as the Judge, it had been so long. Lilith, if nothing else, was an opportunistic hunter and when Undyne stared at Sans with wide, confused eyes, Lilith charged at her for the second time in a handful of hours.

Taking Undyne off her feet for a second time, she leapt at Undyne, getting herself higher, taking her down to with an arm bar to her throat. They both went tumbling to the damp ground with a grunt of discomfort and a tangle of limbs. They grappled on the ground, kicking and hitting at each other, before Lilith managed to get on top, using a gravity spell to help hold Undyne down.

A closed fisted punch slammed into Undyne’s chin, putting her whole-body weight into the attack that held no true vicious intent. Lilith didn’t want to hurt Undyne, not really, even as she slammed another fist into the side of Undyne’s head.

Sans was suddenly at Napstablook’s door, his face drawn and stricken even as his eye was engulfed in blue and yellow magic. He looked desperately from Undyne to Lilith, unsure who to grab to separate them.

Undyne’s upswing caught Lilith in the jaw, cracking her lip as Undyne struggled for control. They grappled again, Lilith using her advantage to keep Undyne pinned down when she yelled to Sans, “GO! Get the kids and go!”    

Undyne shot upward, her forehead slamming into Lilith’s chin, a dark bruise blooming nearly instantly and her eyes watered. It was enough for Undyne to toss the mage from her chest and reverse the roles, the monster pinning Lilith down and a metal fist slammed into Lilith’s face.

Her nose broke in a single slam, blood bursting as the cartilage gave out into an awkward angle; Lilith wasn’t braced for the attack, didn’t move with it and she cursed herself. Peace had made her soft, lulled her into a foolish false sense of security. She knew better, she knew how to take a hit properly, and as she saw stars, she knew she needed to spar more regularly with Felix and Sloan.

Undyne drew back for another hit, and Lilith’s mask snapped into place; it was heavy and metal. A bird like head with glowing crimson at its eyes that shone up at Undyne that hid the green magic that forced her nose back together. She winced when she felt the cartilage grinding together, and she moved with the strike the second time, rolling through it. Gravity magic helped her roll the heavy monster off her, putting her back on top.

Using their momentum, Undyne threw her and Lilith went with it, rolling twice before rolling to her feet. Shifting her feet further apart, putting her weight into the balls of her feet, her swords were summoned easily with a flick of her wrists.

Undyne was on her feet as well, spear in hand and she snarled at the mage. They started at each other, long and hard, magic flashing angrily in their standoff; Lilith’s eyes glanced upward, the magic from her helmet flashing over Undyne’s shoulder to where Sans stood wide eyed and angry. White eye-lights staring back just as intently at Lilith.  

Spears shot upward from the damp ground in that split second that Lilith was distracted, but she felt the gathering of magic the moment before they would have speared her. She traced behind Undyne so that she stood between her and Sans, and Lilith hesitated.

It was stupid, and hesitation like this would get her killed in war, yet something made her pause in her attack. Even when everything in her was screaming to attack, to shed blood and go on the offensive.

She didn’t want Sans to see when her LV was bubbling so hotly under her skin. She didn’t want him to see how vicious she could be.

Tilting her head back slightly, Lilith’s voice was void of any life. Flat and cold, “Get the kids.”

Sans hesitates only a moment longer, hating the choice before him. Gritting his teeth hard, he turns tail and disappears back into the warm home. There’s the sound of a shortcut, then only running water and the sound of slow breathing of two warriors.

Undyne snarls, “It’s not personal.” Her voice is angry and full of malice.

Lilith is as cold as Undyne is hot, “It never is.”

Then she attacks; pushing off of a gravity disk and pulses magic into her muscles. Undyne is ready for her attack and blocks the swing of her sword with a spear. It’s a flurry of movement, an easy rhythm that Lilith hasn’t felt in nearly eighty years. Sparing is one thing, but truly fighting is certainly another and it’s like riding a bike.

Undyne is just as fast as her, just as strong and has just a deep magic well as Lilith. Her attacks are just as brutal and neither hold back or pull their punches; they slash when they can and as deeply as they can. They punch with bone crunching intensity that leaves the wet ground torn and cracked. Magic is thrown back and forth, and the earth is scorched with it.

It’s an even fight, but Lilith has spent longer in a war than she has in peace. The tide changes slowly, experience over taking Undyne’s determination and the harder they fight the better Lilith gets. The easier it comes, and her LoVe settles over her soul like an old glove. Her hits are harder, her magic is loosening up and coming to her hands easier and it isn’t long until Undyne is panting and tired.

Lilith is sporting new scars, there’s a particularly good one from where Undyne caught her belly, slashing through her sash, soaking the crimson material in her own blood; but Undyne is bleeding as well. There’s blood from her right shoulder where Lilith had torn the pauldrin from her shoulder and imbedded a knife up to the hilt into the muscle.

Yet, it is Lilith’s healing trait that keeps her on her feet, it’s her magic being pulled inward and fueling her body in rapid, thick waves and years of experience that give her the edge. She was raised by war, was bred for it and embraced it.

In the end it was Sans who cost her the fight.

Only when Frisk and MK where safe with Gerson, with very strict instructions to _keep going_ did Sans come back for his mage. He couldn’t leave her behind, not with Undyne. Not when she could actually hurt Undyne.

Not when Undyne could hurt her.

Stepping out of the shortcut, Sans was horrified to find the ground scorched and broken, magic thick in the air as Lilith pressed Undyne onto her knees, sword pressing downward and only being stopped by the handle of a spear.

Panic rocked through Sans’s soul, and he’s shouting at her before he can stop himself, “Lilith stop!”

There’s a moment when she freezes, her head turns towards him and away from Undyne. It’s a moment when fear ripples through her and mingles with what maybe shame.

It was in that moment of distraction that Undyne summons a spear that tares through her leg, destroying her knee. Lilith crumples as her leg gives out, not once uttering a word of pain, and Undyne gets away, dancing back the few steps needed to put distance between them.

Lilith is already ripping her leg from the spear, destroying the joint to keep moving, to survive when three more spears go through her belly from the ground. Even then she tries to keep moving and free herself, to tare the spears from her body. Lilith is snarling, struggling to get free as the flesh of her body gives and blood pours from her to soak the damp ground below her.

Sans is horrified when four more spears go through her chest, one through her left forearm and her struggles cease only when the last one shoots up through her throat.

Lilith finally falls still, suspending above the ground by the spears and there is blood pooling from the mouth of her helmet. Only then does Undyne collapse, panting and tired, “Is it dead?” she wonders aloud, shocked at the sight before her. Shocked by her own brutality.

Sans feels cold. Not in the same numb, detached, grey way he feels when he’s having a bad day. Cold in the same way he felt when Papyrus died. Cold in the same way he felt when Frisk was taken over by Chara, and his friend tortured him.

It was like his soul would crack and he would be left with nothing. With no one.

His friend was dead.

His voice was small as his soul began to hurt, “No.” Lilith couldn’t be dead. She couldn’t be.

Blood pooled sickly under her, bright against the dark ground of Waterfall, soaking into the already damp soil. Sans feels his voice crack when he says her name, soft and sad and hurt, his soul twisting at the sight of her broken body. He knows Frisk can go back, but at what cost? At what risk? What if Chara was waiting for this opportunity? The chance to take a larger, stronger mage over to hurt them? Sans wasn’t certain he could bare torture by his new friend.

“Sans?” Undyne’s voice is tired, “What are you doing?” she asks as he reaches out with his fingertips to touch her hand.

The skin of her hand is cold as ice, devoid of magic and life. Anger fills him, fills every inch of his being and soul. Lilith had been his friend. _His_. She was kind to his brother, and she loved her little sister. She kept Monster Kid safe when they had fallen down the bridge and made sure he was warm while she slept on the cold ground.

 His eye-lights faded, and Undyne sounds small when she calls his name as a question, “Sans?”

Anger floods him and his LV rattles at his bones. He’s more powerful then Undyne and they both know it. He’s the Judge, and he sees all.

“How could you?” his voice is cold and detached, all he can see is Lilith’s still form and her blood on the ground.

“How could you U N D Y N E?” how was he going to tell Frisk? How could he, knowing the risk of Chara taking either one of them. How could he pop that happy bubble of hope that seemed to be surrounding her since her big sister tumbled into the underground.

“Sans.” Undyne sounds confused and startled, “She’s a human. One more soul and we escape this hell.”

Sans wraps his hand around her cold fingers, and it’s a struggle to stay calm, “Asgore could H A V E G O N E T O the surF A C E already.” Anger is spreading through his chest, and he hasn’t ever felt this way unless it was in a golden hallway, “H E L E F T us here to R O T.”

“You don’t mean that Sans.” Undyne says gently, and she pushes herself nervously to her feet. “Look. The big guys just doing what he needs to. For all of us. For you.”

“Asgore doesn’t give a shit about any of us.” He can’t stop looking at the blood that steadily drops form her throat and think how he won’t get to see her shy smile anymore. Or the grin when she’s done something that makes Frisk laugh.

“He-“ Lilith’s fingers suddenly twitch in his hand and green magic is swirling around her wounds as through trying to pack them with a healing matrix and protect them.

Pain and anger tuns to shock when there is a bubbling gasp torn from her chest as blood fills her lungs, and Lilith squeezes lightly at his hand. Skeletal fingers wrap around Lilith’s hand and he holds on as she gets her right arm under to chest to push her throat off the spear.

More blood pools sickly onto the ground, bleeding thickly for the healing wound in her throat and pouring from her helmet as she coughs it up. With one arm under her, Lilith tries to push herself free, squeezing at Sans’s hand tightly as she funnels more magic into forcing her body to work.

Her voice is rough and hurting when she finally mutters, “Ssssans?” and it nearly sends him to his knees. She’s alive and fighting and her magic isn’t spent yet.

He can hear Undyne cursing behind him, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” and Sans makes a choice.

Lilith needs to heal; she needs a chance to recoup before Sans can return her to her little sister. He grips harder on her hand and gives her a pitying look. “I’m so sorry.”

Something must click because she nods slowly, “’s’okay. Do it.”

He doesn’t wait any longer and doesn’t hesitate. He slips into a short cut, dragging her body with him; the spears tare through her, and she takes it in a silence that makes Sans cringe. Lilith could take a hit, knew how to bury the pain but even that must have hurt like hell.

When they come out of the short cut, they land roughly on the floor of the Inn back in Snowdin; it’s not safe to go back home. Not yet at any rate. Not until Frisk has been chased all the way to Hotland and befriends Undyne.

Until then, Sans will stay at the Inn and can only hope that Frisk and MK are fast enough to get there without help. Frisk is determined, and Lilith is so badly hurt.  

She’s too heavy to move onto the bed on his own, and Sans doesn’t want his brother involved in this unless absolutely necessary. The less Papyrus knows about how badly hurt Lilith is, the better. Plausible deniability was a real thing, especially since he was technically going against the King’s word.

Sans put his back to a wall and dragged Lilith against him to that he cradled her head against his chest. She was limp and muttering weakly against him as crimson and green magic swirled around her body to repair the damage. Delicate fingers found the latches of her helmet and it took far too long to figure out how to pull it off without hurting her.

Frowning, Sans pulled her tighter against his chest; Lilith’s eyes were blown wide with pain and blood loss. Her already pale skin look translucent so that the scar on her brow stood out two shades brighter and the silvery freckles across her nose looked like little stars.

Blood was stuck to her chin and throat and matted in her loose hair; a new ugly scar tore through the skin of her throat, marring the skin to the right of her windpipe where Undyne had landed the blow that nearly killed her. She looked wildly around and gave him a lopsided smile when she managed to focus on him. Her magic was slow to heal her now, the gaping wounds in her body still bled badly and stained the carpet of the Inn.

Sans could only think of all not that long ago how Lilith had expended precious magic to make him feel better by giving him a night sky. That seemed so long ago now, but not near long enough for Lilith to rebuild her magical reservoir. 

“Sans.” Her voice was raspy and low, but she still smiled hazily at him, the edges soft.

He forced a grin, “Heya evil mage. I uh. I think Undyne might have won this round.” Blood was seeping into his own cloths and he wondered how much longer before her magic sealed up the wounds.

“I know.” She sounds drunk with blood loss, and _finally_ her magic is knitting the edges of her wounds back together. “I’m all holey.”

Sans huffs and squeezes her a little tighter, locking her to his chest, “Sure are. You’d make a terrible bucket.”

Lilith manages a laugh, and somehow manages to roll in his arms and Sans is thankful the wounds have begun to close. Her intestines stay where they’re supposed to and didn’t spill into his lap. She snuggles into him with a sigh, her armor digging painfully into him when she does, and Lilith drunkenly sings, “There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Sansy, dear Sansy.” She laughs, but it’s deranged and broken, and it bothers Sans, “Sans. I’m the bucket.”

Sans isn’t sure if its blood loss or shock, but he hugs her close none the less. At least she was alive, and her magic would keep her that way. He knows the rest of the song, but he can’t bear to sing it. Not now, not yet. He wasn’t ready to joke about her near-death experience, not when it’s so fresh.

“Get some sleep Lilith.” He tells her softly. “I’ll keep you safe.”

Dark eyes fluttered closed and Lilith’s face somehow ends up snuggling into the crook of his own throat, “You’re so warm.” She mutters with a sigh, “I didn’t want to hurt her. She’s Paps friend. I didn’t draw on my other powers. The _worse_ of my abilities. Could have, but I didn’t want to hurt Undyne.”  Then darkness drags her under a blanket of exhaustion. 

Sans is still and tense for a long time. Just holding his battle mage, listing to her breath and watching her chest rise and fall with every breath. He watches the green magic spread carefully over her battle-damaged body to slowly mend the wounds.

He pulls her close and held her just as tightly as she held him when he needed her the most. Come hell or high water, Sans would keep her safe. 

-

Sans jerks awake when he feels Lilith move, a groan pulling low from her throat and he wonders when he fell asleep. He’s not sure how long they’ve been out but Lilith is still heavy against him, still in full battle armor and alive, thank the stars.

Her blood stains the carpet beneath them and its flaking off the hardened magic that encases her, but her breathing is deep and soft. She sighs again in her sleep and presses into him a little tighter; his arm wraps around her shoulders as best he can to hold her close and he can smell the magic that comes from her. The soap that is very faint on her skin, and almost gone from over a weeks’ worth of adventuring in the underground.

She groans in her sleep, and her eyes flutter open. She looks tired from the lack of magic and the blood loss is playing havoc on her body. What magic she has left is what’s propping her up, keeping her going enough to even wake up.

She takes a deep breath, her nose pressing into Sans’s cervical vertebra to inhale his scent. It makes Sans feel warm and blue colors his face, but he likes it when she’s soft like this, all her sharp edges soothed out. Yet, he wouldn’t want her to pay the cost of this gentleness ever again. 

Not when he watched her die while he was helpless to stop it.

Lilith pushed herself up, feeling weak and woozy, her head spinning. The bags under her eyes are thick and dark, and Lilith caught herself on the wall beside his skull; her hand plants flat to the wall with a dull thud and her face is far too close to his own.

He can feel his face going hot when Lilith jammed her eyes shut with a groan of pain as she lowered her forehead to his. He can feel her lips brush at his teeth, and his grin goes a little shaky.

“Not feeling so great San.” She whispers against his teeth, dark eyes close as she focuses on breathing.

“That’d be the blood loss.” Sans tells her, voice just as soft even as his soul does a weird twisting in his chest.

He hums against his teeth, and her eyes open a crack, “You kept me safe.” She mutters against him, and her breath is hot against his bones.

Sans finds himself relaxing against the wall, not realizing how tense he had become since she had drawn herself so close. Lilith isn’t like Olivia, she has no ill intent, would stop if he asked her to.

“I did.” He muttered back, his hands falling to her shoulders to help steady her shaking body. He didn’t mind having her so close.

“Should say thanks.” She sounds drunk again, blood loss and the lack of magic still making her loopy hours later.

“Pretty sure you just did.” Sans tells her slowly, and he refused to wonder if her lips were soft. She was his friend, stars on fire, what was he doing.

Lilith’s lips curled and her eyes seemed hazy, “I like you.” Her voice is still soft and her smile gentle despite her bold words. Her head tilts to better fit against him, and Sans feels shocked when she moves slowly to kiss him.

The worst part is, he wants her to. He wants her to be bold, he wants to steal soft kisses hidden away from the world. He knows he’s safe with Lilith, she would never hurt him, would stop if he asked.

Yet, she wasn’t in the right frame of mind. What sort of friend would _he_ be if he took advantage of that? He’d be just like Oliva, that’s what he would be.

He pressed his hands into her shoulders just before she pressed her mouth to his own, “Gotta stop ya there evil mage. Blue stop signs all the way.”

Lilith does freeze, first confusion then horror cross her features as she pulls away, “I’m sorry.” She slurs, and in her weakened state her eyes go comically wide with fear, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t. That wasn’t. I…”

“Chill evil mage. You gotta chill. I don’t mean blue stop signs forever.” He flushes bright with magic, “but you’re in no shape to be making moves on anyone. Doesn’t feel right to let you kiss me when you’re a little drunk.”

The haze returns to Lilith’s eyes, but she nods in understanding, “Oh. Yeah. I still don’t feel great.”

Guilt bubbles hotly at his soul and Sans finds himself nodding, his grin becoming a little more real despite the conflict in his soul, “Yeah. ‘prolly not.” His Hotland accent coming out just a little, “How ‘bout we make a puppy pile instead? We can talk about other stuff later.”

Lilith nods, “’kay.” She pauses when her head swims, “I can’t feel my toes.”

Still smiling at her a little, Sans nods. He feels better then he has in a long while, he feels useful and there’s a bolt protectiveness that flashes through Sans when Lilith looks at him with wide eyes. She had spent so much time protecting him, and he had a feeling he wouldn’t get the chance to return the favor all that often.

He wanted to see her back to her full potential, powerful and unstoppable. Smart and funny. He wanted her to kiss him when she was rippling with power and magic, still soft and kind. “It’s okay evil mage. I’ve got you.”

Blue magic surrounded her, and Lilith leaned into his magic trustingly. He had felt weird trying to move her when she was unconscious, like it had been a violation to touch her with magic without her consent.

He lifted her up as though she weighed nothing, magic was soft and warm against her skin when Sans carefully set her down on the bed. Despite her armor, Lilith went soft against the bed, falling limp against the sheets.

Pausing, Sans looked at his blood covered shirt and took a quick shortcut back home to change. He dumped his dirty cloths into the hamper and made his way back to Lilith before she woke up, and his fresh cloths felt good against his bones.

She hadn’t moved since he left her, not that he was expecting her to have gone anywhere in her condition. He crawled into the bed next to her, curling against her muscular body and the hard armor that she had yet to dismiss. Her usually warm skin was cold to the touch, but her color was starting to look more normal and not so sickly.

Settling in next to her, Sans felt odd. She liked him? She had been about to kiss him too, but why would she say that?

Sans shakes the thought away. He wasn’t sure he even believed what she said, how could she? Lilith was a total unit; nearly as tall as Papyrus, muscular like Undyne and when he had managed to thaw the ice from her outer emotional shields a soft sort of kindness he hadn’t been expecting.

He liked Lilith. He did, even if that confused the hell out of him. He hadn’t thought that he would have been able to muster up enough fucks to give ever again to ever _like_ someone like this again.

He wondered what it would feel like to kiss her? To have someone touch him and want to touch him. It’d been so long since he wanted to be touched by someone else, and he wouldn’t have minded Lilith’s soft hands pressing him back into a wall while she kissed him.

Cringing, Sans pushed the thought away quickly. He was supposed to be taking care of Lilith, watching out for her while she was hurt and out. He wasn’t trying to be a creep.

Eyes slipping shut, Sans went lax and fell into a light sleep. Frisk would have to be near Hotland by now, if she hadn’t already reached it.

Falling asleep, Sans dreamt of Lilith holding his hand with a soft smile.

-

Lilith and Sans jerked awake with the sound of a high-pitched buzz; the former had a brilliant crimson knife in her hand and the former had summoned the smallest Gaster Blaster he had ever managed.

They clung to each other, ready to attack and defend. Magic hummed softly together, red and blue mixing to create a soft purple between them.

The buzz thrilled again, and Sans felt it in his sweater, soft and constant against his hips. It drew their gazes downward, both monster and mage frowning.

“Sans, is that your cellphone?” Lilith still sounded tired, like she had been stabbed several times over and was still suffering from blood loss.

“Heh. Yup.” He reached into his pocket for his phone, his brother’s name shining up at him.

Dismissing the knife, Lilith huffed and fell back onto the bed, “Fate behold me. Let’s go back to sleep.”

“Heh. I know you like me in bed evil mage, but this’ll only take a sec.” Sans told her lightly, making her chuckle. At least she sounded more lucid, more like herself and not drunk.

Accepting the call, Sans lifted the phone to his skull, “Heya bro. What’s up?”  

“BROTHER!” Papyrus’s happy voice came through the small speaker, just as loud and bright as if he was standing next to them, “I HAVE SOME GREAT NEWS! AS I KNEW IT WOULD COME TO PASS, OUR LITTLE FRIEND FRISK HAS BEFREINDED UNDYNE! OF COURSE, IT WAS I THAT HELPED NUDGE THEIR FRIENDSHIP ALONG WITH A MISCHEIVIOUS CHALLENGE! QUITE THRILLING, IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF.”

“That’s great bro.” and the knot of tension eased from Sans’s soul, at least the kid was okay.

Lilith looked up at him with half open eyes, frowning at him, her head tilting in question. He held up a finger as to say ‘one second’ so he could focus on his brother.

“SHE HAS BEEN QUITE IMPRESSED WITH THE DETERMINATION OF YOUNG FRISK.” There was a slight pause, a concern coloring his brothers voice, “Undyne wants to uh. Have words with our taller friend.”

“I bet she does bro.” worried eye lights glanced to Lilith; still in her battle armor, she didn’t dare release the hold on her magic. The chance of her passing out from blood loss and being unable to reach within for her magic was too great, so she held on. Even in slumber, Sans could feel the hum of her magic under her skin.

Lilith rubbed sleep from her eyes, looking tired and worn out. Blood clotted in her hair and stuck to her throat. Sans frowned at her, concerned at how well she was really doing and if she would be able to hold up against Undyne wanting to ‘talk’ to her right now. There was another flash of protectiveness that shot through Sans’s soul with the memory of watching her bleed out on the damp ground still too fresh in his memory.

“Yes well.” Papyrus paused, uncertain and Sans could practically see his brother looking down and away, “Undyne wants to talk to her. She’s concerned about what Lilith is capable of.” There was another pause, and Papyrus’s voice dropped down to a whisper, “Undyne wants to talk to you too. She says you’re a traitor Sans, but she’s confused. She’s going against the King for Frisk, and she’s scared.”

Papyrus sighs, and Sans can hear him fidget, “Sans. Undyne says that they’ll need Lilith’s help to manage Asgore, if he…reacts badly to Frisk, but Undyne has alluded that Lilith may be…hurt.”  

Sans sighs and glances to the mage; Lilith is only starting to look more awake but the darkness under her eyes is heavy and she looks sick form blood loss. “Yeah. She is.” Lilith perked up at that, head tilting and her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Sans shook his head at her, and glanced away, “But she’s okay. She’s still recovering. Nothing to worry about bro.”

The softness is disappearing form Lilith’s eyes, and they harden with a flash of red magic, “What’s going on?” she hisses at him suddenly. He waves her off and looks back towards the door.

“Right. Well. Undyne is here now.” Papyrus says softly, and Sans is surprised by this, had Frisk already befriended her, and she was with Papyrus? How long had they been out? “And she wants to talk to Lilith.”

“Sans,” her voice is dangerous and low. “What’s going on?”  Sans ignores her again, focusing on his brother.

“Is she bro?” he’s stupidly nervous, “Why she there? Where’s the kid?”

“Friend Frisk is already part way through Hotland. She has befriended Undyne and they have burned down her house. This feels awfully familiar brother, is this one of those things that has happened before?”   

Surprise hits Sans, and he blurts out, “The kid’s in Hotland already!”

Next to him Lilith’s eyes go wide before they go hazy again. It’s the look she gets when one of Frisk’s memories pops into her mind and she’s taken off guard by it. Dread fills Sans, when her gaze clears, and her eyes narrow with fierce determination.

“Frisk’s in Hotland?” she paused, looking annoyed, “Undyne’s at your place?”

Sans sighed, “We’ll be there in a bit Paps.”

Lilith snarls as she squirms out of the bed, but her hands are gentle on his bones when she carefully moves him from her way. She stomps through the door of the Inn, Sans at her heels as he hangs up the phone, “Lili? Evil mage you need to find your chill. Don’t want to hurt her, remember?”

“I’m not going to hurt her.” Lilith’s voice is cold like ice, and she stumbles a little, catching herself on the edge of the door frame, “But I’m going to punch her.”

Sans sighed and rolled his eyes. That flash of protectiveness squeezes at his soul when he settles on annoyance, “Why?”

“She fucking stabbed me.” Lilith snaps as she shoves the doors to the Inn open, coming out into the snow-covered village of Snowdin. “We’re back here!”

Sans shrugged, “Yeeeep. Didn’t know where else to go.” It would have been funnier if she wasn’t looking so sickly. Lilith huffed, allowed her stomach to settled when it twisted and she almost heaved. Sans’s annoyance fell into worry and his face pinched. “You okay?”

Lilith swallowed thickly, licking her teeth. “Yeah.” Her dark eyes fell to him, and he gave her a small grin and she softened a little. “Let’s go see what Undyne wants.” Her tone was cold and angry, the battle mage looking to meet the challenge.

She was still sickly looking despite her determination, and Sans finds he misses the softness that she had held in her eyes for him.


	14. A Hotland Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans and Lilith get a small moment of happiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello dear readers! 
> 
> No major warnings this chapter, but there will be warnings in the next chapter. 
> 
> Cheers friends!

Lilith was tense as she and Sans walked through Snowdin, Sans was just as nervous with his soul in knots over what was about to happen. Two warriors were about to have a show down, and the air around them was thick with the strain of magic.     

“Evil mage?” Sans asked softly, concern thick in his voice. “You going to be okay?”

Lilith opened her mouth, her eyes tight and angry, but she snapped her teeth together. She swallowed once, controlling her rage, and spoke much softer to him then he had thought she would have, “No. But we don’t have a choice.”

Sans snorted at her, “Yeah we do. You can rest and let your magic restore itself.” Lilith shook her head no, and Sans rolled his eyes, cursing stubborn battle mages, “Why not?”  

Lilith didn’t slow her stride, she kept walking with purpose through Snowdin, looking annoyed and hard, “We need to get to the surface Sans. We need Undyne to get there.”

Annoyance prickles at his mind, and he glares, “Yeah, that seems like bull shit Lilith. You need to rest.”

She gives him an annoyed look, her eyes hard and cold like when she first met them, but her voice is soft, “Sans. This is what I do. I’m a battle mage, and if there’s someone challenging my people, I meet that challenge. It’s…instinct.” Her grim face looked down at him, shinning with violent magic, “I protect my people Sans.”

Snorting, Sans can’t help the snort, “And I’m one of your people now?” The words are out of his mouth before he can stop it, his own annoyance meeting hers.

“Yes.” Lilith’s voice is hard, cold in a way that speaks of the depth of her LV.  

A little stunned by such a fierce admission, Sand frowned at her and wished that they there still in the Inn. He wished that Lilith still looked at him with softness that he hadn’t seen from anyone else directed at him. It was a softness that he was starting to crave, like a plant that stretched for sunlight just beyond their reach. He wished that she didn’t look so angry right now. He wished she didn’t look so sickly, so distressed from the blood loss. He wanted that softness directed at him while she was feeling better, when she was powerful.

He wanted to be by her side when she rippled with magic, when she was cocky and unafraid. He wanted to hold her hand when she was when was death incarnate and would still look at him softly. She would hold him softly, pull him tightly to her chest and protect him from any threat.

He wanted the same for her. He wanted to be the one she turned to when she was hurting, he wanted to be the one she could lean on when she was feeling unwell and hurt. He wanted…

Sans sighed deeply, realizing just how deep he was getting into this. How tangled his feelings for Frisk’s older sister were becoming. How much he actually liked her, in such a short amount of time. They clicked, in a way. They fit together well, and he wanted that.  

They came to Sans’s house far too quickly for Sans’s taste. The walk felt far too short and far too long all at the same time, Undyne and Papyrus were waiting outside for them; Undyne licking her teeth, looking uncertain while Papyrus looked nervous. His white eye lights glancing from Undyne to Lilith as they came up the path.

 Lilith took a deep, calm breath, slowing to a stop, her face blank of emotion. Sans stopped next to her, looking as nervous as Papyrus with his hands curled into fists, tension heavy in his soul.

Undyne glared at her for a long moment before her bright yellow eye shifted down to Sans, “So. This is what you’ve betrayed the Kingdom for?”

Sans felt his own eyes narrow before he forced himself to relax despite the heaviness of his soul, “Heard you betrayed the Kingdom for the kid. Soooooo.” He gave a shrug and Lilith shifted towards Sans as though to protect him. He glanced up at her as warmth filled his chest; injured or not, Lilith was still willing to protect him. Willing to put herself between him and harm’s way.  

He tried to ignore the softness in his soul and focus on the potential danger.

Undyne rolled her eye, “Whatever punk.” Her gaze shifted up to the mage, “How are you alive?”

Lilith shrugged, “I’m durable.”

Baring her teeth, Undyne hissed at her, “Durable? I stabbed you through the chest and the throat,”

Lilith sneered, voice dripping with sarcasm as she pushed her shoulders back, lifting her chin in a challenge, “Yes, thanks for that.”

“And I watched you bleed out.” Undyne crossed her arms over her chest angrily. “The kid says you’re her sister, but I don’t get how you two are related?”

“Different dads.” Lilith’s smirk is sharp and cruel, her clipped and hard.

Undyne rolled her eyes, “How are you not dead. Mage or not, you were bleeding out. How are you even still standing?”

Sans shifts nervously next to Lilith, worry building even as she continues to smirk at Undyne in what can only be described as antagonizing, “Maybe I’m just better than you.”

Smiling at the challenge, Undyne steps forward; she’s wearing jeans and a tank top, that will offer no protection against Lilith’s blades. Lilith looks so much bigger than her, still in her heavy armor but Undyne doesn’t look afraid, “Pretty sure I stabbed you, not the other way around.”

Neither Lilith nor Undyne mention the new shiny scar on Undyne’s shoulder that had been healed by Sea Tea. Lilith’s smirk is just as sharp, “Pretty sure, you only won because I was distracted.”

Undyne took another step forward, and so did Lilith, bringing them toe to toe with each other, “Pretty sure.” Lilith’s voice is soft and monotone, her smirk as sharp as one of her knifes, “I was winning before you cheated.”

The smirk falls from Undyne’s mouth, “I didn’t cheat!”

Lilith shrugs, “Pretty sure you did.”

The withering glare from Undyne would have been enough to make even the most battle-hardened monster in the underground shrink back in fear, yet Lilith pushed herself taller to smirk at her; a challenge, an indignant, unafraid, challenge. Undyne snarled at the infuriating grin, the cocky attitude of someone with hard earned LV.

Sans went still when he saw Undyne draw her arm back, her scaley hand curled into a tight fist, and he raised a hand to pull Lilith out of the way when the mage did the same; the opposite hand that Undyne reached back with, Lilith pulled back.

They swung at each other hard, neither pulling their punches as Undyne’s left fist slammed into the left side of Lilith’s face at the same time Lilith’s right fist collided into the right side of Undyne’s chin. The hit sent both warriors to the ground with a thud, bruising already molting along their skin at the impact, and Sans felt magic fill him. He was ready for one of them to jump the other and start to attack, and he would pull them apart the moment it happened.

Instead, Lilith and Undyne pushed themselves up to sit in the snow, each rubbing at their faces while glaring at each other. There was a snap of the tension when Undyne burst into a hard belly laugh that nearly had her doubling over.  

Lilith paused only for a moment, blinking in surprise at Undyne’s outburst before her own laugh bubbled from her chest, following Undyne as she doubled over, gasping silently for air. For precious seconds, the two sat gasping for air as silent laughter made them squeak and slap their thighs.

Sans felt his magic drain away in shock, not entirely sure what was happening and gave his brother a helpless look. Papyrus shrugged at him, just as confused as Sans as they watched the two warriors laugh at each other.

“I can’t breathe!” Lilith managed to gasp between the breathless laughter, her hands pressed hard into her belly in an attempt to ease the cramp in her muscles.

Undyne laughed harder, nodding her head in agreement, tears blinding her yellow eye in mirth.

Sans blinked at the two of them, waited for them to calm a little before he asked, “What the hell is going on?” this only served to make them laugh harder, peals of laughter and giggles bubbling from them as they tried to calm down. They would calm, if only briefly, until they looked at each other and the laughter would build again until neither could breathe.

Only once had Lilith made the mistake to look at Sans, his shocked face only made her laugh harder, setting Undyne off again.

It was utterly ridiculous. Lilith and Undyne were fierce warriors, legends among their own people and they were sitting in the snow, laughing like school children. It was unimaginable, it was absurd.

It brought a grin to Sans face, gentle and sweet in a way that he didn’t think he still could smile. It dawned on him that he couldn’t remember the last time someone made him smile like this, he wasn’t entirely sure anyone ever had.

Lilith’s honest laughter could make him smile like that.   

Shaking his head, Sans bottled that happy feeling away for later, he still wasn’t sure how Undyne was going to react once their giggling fit wore off. He waited until they calmed enough for Undyne to push herself to her feet, reaching down a hand to Lilith. The mage grasped at her forearm and allowed herself to be pulled up as well, and for a moment they stood grasping each other’s forearms.

“That was a good hit mage.” Undyne sounded impressed, her smirk not so sharp, the edges a little softer.

Lilith squeezed Undyne’s arm a little tighter, like a handshake, “Like wise.” The hardness from her eyes was gone, and they reverted to their neutral crimson, but Lilith’s smirk was a little softer.  

Sans and Papyrus shared a confused look again, and when Sans spoke his voice was full of uncertainty, “So. Umm. What the hell?”

Lilith and Undyne released each other’s hand to glance at Sans, both snickering at his look of confusion. Lilith crossed her arms, her giggles becoming harder the longer she stared at his face and Undyne finally cleared her throat, her voice rough, “Well. It’s a warrior thing punk. You wouldn’t understand.”

White eye-lights glanced from Undyne, to Lilith and back again, “You’re both nuts.” He told them finally, even as Papyrus’s face lit up with delight, “No, seriously. You’re both nuts. Pretty sure you were going to end me ‘Dyne.”

Papyrus laughed, throwing an arm around Lilith and Undyne, pulling them both into a sideways hug, “MOST EXCELLENT! NOW WE CAN ALL BE FRIENDS!”

Undyne went teal, kicking at a snow poff, “Ah com’on Paps. Don’t get all sappy now.”

Lilith snuggled into Papyrus’s side, looking smug and challenging, “What? You’re giving up all the snuggles then Undyne?” she tsked at the other warrior, pressing into Papyrus’s side.

Papyrus laughed as Undyne’s eye narrowed, “Pfft! Like you could out snuggle me mage!” she groused, snuggling into Papyrus other side as hard as she could.

Laughing, Papyrus pulled them both tighter into their hug, “THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!”

As they laughed, Sans felt himself relax. Slowly his shoulders dropped, the tension melting from them slowly and he smiled at the three of them snuggling. It just felt right, in a weird sort of way. Like they had all meant to be together, like some weird family and Sans felt like everything was going to be alright.

Lilith finally released her magic, shaking away her armor like a dog shaking off water from their fur, “Yeah, this has been a pretty good da-...” Lilith suddenly paused, slumping in Papyrus’s hold. With her careful hold of her magic finally released, there was nothing to prop Lilith up from the blood loss from her last encounter with the warrior monster. Her face suddenly paled and her vision swam, “Oh right, blood loss.” She muttered before her eyes faded back to dark brown and rolled up into her head. Lilith crumpled into the snow, cold and weak.

Shooting forward, Sans’s hands were on her shoulder and the back of her head instantly. Careful fingers pressing into her skull to look for wounds. Over him Papyrus and Undyne gasped in concern, dropping to their knees on either side of the mage; Sans hand fell to her cheek, not entirely sure what to do.

“Lilith? Are you okay?” his voice suddenly sounds so far away, and Lilith can’t make her body cooperate to tell him that she’s fine. He sounds so afraid, so concerned and Lilith tried to reassure him that she’s fine. Nothing comes out, and Lilith sinks into the darkness.

-

Sans heaves a sigh, watching Lilith as she sleeps, once again on their pullout couch, tucked into the thickest blankets they can find for her. Papyrus had even thrown one of the comforters into their drier to warm it up to give Lilith a warmer spot to recuperate in.

Worry twisted at his soul, but he knew she was safe here now that Undyne was finally on their side. Sans would hazard a guess that now that Papyrus and Undyne were here, there was no place safer in the underground then their house. Nothing would touch Lilith without going though them first.

Undyne sipped her tea, yellow eye glancing from Sans to Lilith and back again, her mouth pulling into a smirk, “Well now that makes sense.” She said suddenly.

“What does?” Sans asked, still watching Lilith sleep. She’s too pale, he thinks, she shouldn’t be that pale. It must be the blood loss, that’s the only thing that makes any sense.

Papyrus is next to Undyne, and he also glances up at his best friend and her sudden words.

Undyne smirks over her cup, watching Sans, “You have a crush on the human. That’s why you bothered to go with her. That’s why you bothered to try to stop me from harvesting her soul. It’s why your bothering with being worried now.”

Sans’s head snapped to Undyne, the denial already on his tongue when she continues, “I mean, what else would push you to betray your people? Only thing I could think of would be love.”

“I don’t,” Sans starts, but his soul does a funny thing in his chest and his words die in this throat, “We’re friends.”

Undyne hums in a way that tells Sans she doesn’t believe him, “No. _I’m_ friends with the kid and her sister.” Sans raises a boney brow at her, just an hour ago Lilith and Undyne had been ready to murder each other, suddenly their friends? “But you? You like her Sans.”

Undyne’s smirk is wide, like the cat who got the canary and Sans’s defense sounds weak even to his own non-existent ears, “We’re just friends.”

“I think she would be a good mate for you brother.” Papyrus said suddenly, drawing a loud laugh from Undyne and a thump from her fist on the table. Papyrus looked unbothered by his friend’s loud nature and smiled gently at his brother, “She’s kind, and protective. And I think she likes you too.”

Sans rolled his eyes, wondering who would even want to like him anyways, “Gezz not you too Paps. Come on, Lilith and I are just friends.” If that were true why was his soul doing that weird, loop-de-loop thing in his chest, and he was certain friends didn’t try to kiss each other.  

The smirk fell from Undyne’s mouth and she glanced nervously to the mage, “I dunno what we’re gonna do about Asgore.” She thumbed the rim of her mug anxiously and looked down, “We know that he’ll kill either the kid or the mage to get their souls. But I can’t…” Undyne’s mouth snapped shut, uncertain and confused. Sans nodded and Papyrus’s hand fell to her shoulder. They both knew that Undyne was close to Asgore, knew that this must be tearing her up inside.

“The small human won’t hurt him.” There was so much confidence in Papyrus’s tone, that it made even Undyne believe him, “And with Lilith here, we will find a way to break the barrier. I’m sure of it.”

The smile he gave them both, gave even Sans a little bit of hope. He glanced to where Lilith slept soundly under thick warm blankets that he may or may not have poured a ton of positive intent into. It was supposed to help promote healing, and well, if Undyne didn’t know that it was fine by him.

Something warm uncurled from his soul as he watched Lilith sleep. It was the same as the protective feeling when she was hurt at the Inn, but softer somehow.

He looked away with heat crawling at his cheeks and he looked down. Undyne smirked when she saw his blush and sipped her tea.

-

Lilith remained in bed for three full days; she would wake only to use the washroom, which Undyne helped her to do, or to eat a little bit, which Sans insisted on helping her with. She would smile sleepily at him, weak and dozy, and her hands were soft on his bones when she touched him.

He pretended not to notice when he pressed into her touch, her calloused hands so, so careful on his glossy bones. It was pleasant, soft stolen moments that he felt guilt about, stupid about. Lilith probably wasn’t even aware she was touching his forearm; probably didn’t realize she held his hand before she drifted back to sleep and Sans was too weak to reject her touch.

He thought of the almost kiss a little more now that she was recovering, and Sans couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have her soft mouth press into his in a kiss? She’d be soft with him; he was willing to bet.  

She’d probably hold him softly as well, like he meant something to her. Like he was precious.

A dark thrill went through him at the thought of her pressing him into a wall, pinning his wrists by his skull while she kissed him softly. He wanted her to, he wanted her to…

“You’re staring again.” Undyne told him gruffly from the kitchen table, quietly flipping through reports from Snowdin and Waterfall. The reports about how the kiddo was doing in Hotland were still untouched next to her tea that she was quietly sipping.

With a frown, Sans looked away and giving Undyne a glare. She was unbothered by it and continued to read her report even when Sans’s chilly words were directed at her. “I wasn’t staring.”

Undyne snorted, “Yeah ya were. You do it like every half hour, like you’re afraid the mage is gonna dust or something.” She rolled her yellow eye, dropping the report from Waterfall back onto the table and picked up the one from Hotland.

“Human’s don’t dust.” He tells her glumly, propping his elbows on the table so he could drop his chin into his hands.

“Become mush, whatever.” Undyne shakes her head at Sans, “Either way your little crush is tougher than you are. A little bit of blood loss isn’t going to kill her.”

The lights from Sans’s eyes disappeared and he glared, “I T W A S N ‘ T A L I T T L E B I T O F B L O O D L O S S.”

Suppressing the shiver, Undyne managed a smirk but couldn’t hide the tremble from her voice in the face of the Judge, “So you _do_ have a crush on her?”

Sans blinked at her several times, unhurriedly like a cat. His eye-lights came back slowly, and he gave her an unimpressed look, “Har har. You’re a jerk.”

Lilith groaned from the couch, waking up slowly and Sans looked back to the at the noise. Undyne snorted again in a laugh as she leafed through the report, “The kid’s moving quick. Three days and she’s nearly out of Hotland.” Undyne suddenly blushed herself, and Sans rose an eyebrow at her, “Alphas let me know she got passed Mettaton’s cooking show without getting hurt.” He wondered, vaguely, if Frisk had been hurt or worse, died. He doesn’t have the odd feeling of a reset, or double memories, so he thinks that she’s made it through okay.  

The kiddo at least was determined, she knew what had happened to Lilith and Sans had encouraged her to keep going with Monster Kid. At least she wasn’t alone, sure it wasn’t her big sister, but MK had refused to leave Frisk to return to Snowdin with Undyne. 

Another one of those weird things that had changed since Lilith dropped into the underground.

Sans pushed those thoughts aside and smirked at Undyne, “So tell me ‘Dyne, how is Al? I haven’t chatted to her in a long while.”

The glare that Sans gets back from the Captain makes him grin and its worth whatever she decides to do to get back at him with. “The nerd is fine.” Undyne tells him shortly, burying her face back into the report; the heat from her embarrassment was spreading up towards her hair line and down into her gills.

Lilith suddenly dropped heavily into the seat next to Sans, looking tired and pale, dropping her head into her hands, mimicking Sans’s position.

Her eyes were finally looking a little brighter, cold sure, but they were lacking the dull, dead look they held for the last three days, “So has ‘Dyne finally told Alphas that she wants to see what her scales look like?”

She gave Sans a little wink and he chuckled at her words, knowing she had pulled on Frisk’s memories to see their almost kiss. Sans grinned back at her as Undyne sputtered, looking almost insulted, “What! Who told you that! What do you even know about it?”

Lilith shrugged, her grin a little easier, “Just hazarding a guess.” Undyne continued to mutter darkly under her breath, sounding annoyed before Lilith added, “I think it’s cute. Life’s too short to not make a move. You should.”

Sans grinned at Lilith’s encouragement even as Undyne went the deepest shade of teal that Sans had ever seen her go to his utter delight, “Yeah well.” Undyne hid behind her report, hiding her face as the hot blush spread across her cheeks, “Maybe another should heed your advice as well.”

Her gleaming yellow eye glared at Sans from over the top of her report, flashing menacingly at him. Sans shook his head when she glanced at Lilith and he could see the top of a nasty, shark tooth smirk. He stretched and scratched at his cheek with a long middle finger while Lilith leafed through the Snowdin report, oblivious to the two monsters glaring over her.

She sat up and stretched, her spine cracking and that made Sans shutter and grimace, “How long have I been out?”

Sand tucked his hand back under his chin and turned back towards her, “Three days in and out. How are you feeling?”

Lilith groaned and scrubbed her face with both hands, “Honestly, I could probably sleep for another three days but I’ll live. Where’s Frisk?”

Undyne hummed, glanced at the report that Alphas sent her with a frown, “Hmm. Looks like the little punk has defused all of Mettaton’s bombs.” Sans winced as Lilith shot up straight with wide eyes that were suddenly filled with crimson magic. The three days of sleep had done her some good and her well of magic had almost recovered. “And this is an older report, I’d bet that she’s at least in by Muffet’s bakery.”

Lilith sputtered, pushing herself to her feet, her mouth pulled into a grin line of anger, “Bombs!” her hand slapped at the table, looking stricken and angry, “Frisk defused bombs?” she’s suddenly wide awake, wired and ready to go, torn between fury and panic. She still looks off, still too pale but looking healthier than she had in days.

Undyne flapped a hand at her, “Eh, she’s fine. She didn’t even have trouble with it. She did it in under the five-minute allotment.”

Lilith sputtered, “Five-minute allotment!” she muttered darkly under her breath as Undyne shrugged. He knew Lilith had seen Frisk memories of Mettaton’s baking show where there, buried under the other memories of ninety-two runs. The memories all clamoring to be the one at the fore front of her mind, to be remembered. She had chosen which ones she remembered, which one to pluck from the tangle of Frisk’s memories or allow a specific memory to bubble up. It had to have been difficult to contain so much of her sister’s pain and Sans didn’t blame her for not wanting to remember it all, “Sans can you shortcut me to Hotland?”

Glancing up at her, Sans gave her a small nod and his grin become softer. He liked being able to help her, he liked being counted on; he’d never be able to tell Papyrus, he would never live it down, “Yeah, I know a shortcut.” He glanced at the table with tea and breakfast on it, “You want food first?”

Lilith glanced at the food on the table and huffed a sigh, taking an apple. It was a rare commodity, fruit was hard to come by, “Let’s go.” She grumbled as he takes large, almost desperate bites as she walked to the front door to pull on her shoes, “Bye ‘Dyne.”

Shrugging, Sans nodded to Undyne, “See ya ‘Dyne. Don’t forget to call Al.”

Sans smirked at her as she took Lilith’s hand, his soul doing a weird pulse at the warmth of her skin, and side steps into a shortcut. The scorching air of Hotland was suddenly sweltering and thick around them, and Undyne’s curse that she lobbed at them lost to the void. When they stepped out of the shortcut, Lilith looked around with a glower as she looked around Muffet’s parlor and the number of thick webs.

Her hand suddenly tightens around his, drawing his face up to hers with a small frown. Her face is pulled, almost looks stricken as she looks slowly around. Her hand shakes suddenly, ever so slightly and her eyes widen. He can see her sucking on her teeth, and her steps are hesitant.  

“How are you doing Lili?” Sans asked carefully as they walked along the dark pathway to the entrance, and Sans was certain he can see the slight hint of fear in her eyes. It’s there and gone between the space of a blink and it leaves her face cold.  

“I’m still feeling off.” Her dark eyes are looking around, and yep, he can see them widening with something like fear and uncertainty, “Blood loss can take time to get over.” Her words are slow and uncertain as her eyes fell on a larger spider web. She squeezes at his hand, he squeezes back, and he can see the other curl into fists, and it shimmer red. He can see the outline of something over her knuckles, like a guard or a gauntlet. Or brass knuckles, and she licks her lips nervously, “Sans, are we fighting a spider?”

Sans pauses, and really looks at the mage and he nearly laughed; the big bad battle mage who had been ran through with spears from Undyne, who had fought in over three hundred years of war and had even been stabbed by _him_ was afraid of spiders. She wasn’t afraid of him, or Undyne but _spiders_.  

Yet, there it was. Not only fear, but a rapidly growing terror in her wide, crimson eyes and that’s enough for Sans to swallow the laugh that nearly bursts out of him, “We’re just passing through.” He tells her instead, lightly with a wink, “Not sure if the kiddo’s been this way yet or not, but Muffet will let us know.”

Those wide, fearful eyes swung towards him, and he can see the terror in earnest now, “But she’s a spider? As in, little miss Muffet? The spider?”

Sans tried, he really did but his grin widened a little bit at the sudden vulnerability in her eyes and he can’t help but find it funny that Lilith is afraid of spiders. “Sure is evil mage, why? That’s not a problem is it?”  

His smile falls a little when her chest hitches, “Sans I can’t.”

He tilts his head at her, the amusement begins to fall away when he sees her take a step back, “What?” her hand falling loose around his.

“I can’t.” her voice is weak in a way he had never heard from her. “I can’t. I either kill spiders or avoid spiders. Sans.” Her voice cracks when she says his name, and Sans feels his soul throb painfully. This was real, this was someone who had a real fear even if he didn’t understand it.

“Alright. It’s okay.” He sooths, and it’s the least he can do all things considering. He reaches out to take her hand again, giving her fingers a squeeze before they pop back into the short cut.

They reappear past Muffet’s parlor to one of the warm, rocky bridges by the elevators in Hotland. Lilith squeezed his hand hard, crumpling next to Sans into a small ball to press her eyes into her knees. She’s breathing hard, panting into her jeans, and Sans feels bad about almost laughing at her weird fear.

Sans squirms for a moment before his hand fells between her shoulder blades and rubs her back a little, “Lilith, it’s okay. Just breathe.”

She’s gasping hard, and squeezing his hand tight, while she gasps out, “Sorry. I just.” The words catch in her throat and she gulps down air hard. Her hands tremble, and her jaw is tight enough that Sans thinks she might crack a tooth.

Nodding, Sans manages to guide her to the edge of one of the bridges and sits down so that his legs dangle over the edge and over the darkness. He manages to get Lilith to sit next to him, rubbing her back slowly, “It’s okay. Just breath Lil. It’s okay.” He sooths, and although he doesn’t understand why she’s afraid of spiders, only that she is. “Just follow my breathing, in and out, nice and slow.”

He breaths deeps and slowly, exacerbating the act and Lilith struggles to follow along, her breathing hitching and gasping.

She swallows hard, and squeezes his hand tightly, “I don’t like spiders.” Her usual monotone voice trembles with fear that Sans hasn’t heard before, and he frowns at her.

“I can see that evil mage.” He continues to rub her back slowly, trying to ground her, “How come?” he asks softly, and if anything, it will sate his own curiosity. He wants to get her talking, unclog the words that seem to be caught in her throat, and he can’t help but wonder what would cause Lilith to be so afraid.  

“Was leading a unit in the jungle.” Lilith said too quietly next to him, and her hands are shaking, “Mages, Valkyrie and Elves. We were retaking captured land that belonged to the Elves, and we were a recon team. Finding the best place to attack, and I fell into a hole.” She finally looks up at him, her eyes wide with fear, “I fell into a really deep hole with spiders. They got into everything, into my armor, in my hair and in my boots, and it took them a very long time to get me out. I was trapped for over an hour, in a deep, dark hole with spiders _everywhere_. I can’t, I just can’t with spiders.” Her voice cracks and Sans can’t help but to pull her into his chest.

She clings to the front of his shirt tightly, burying her face into his chest and he can feel her shake under his hands. Oh yeah, there’s some deep-rooted trauma there and if anyone can understand trauma its Sans.

He stretches an arm around her shoulders and pulls her tighter into his chest to lock her against him. They had been here before, when they first had met, and it seems so long ago now when Lilith had held him tightly on his couch. He presses his teeth to the top of her head in a gentle kiss before he can stop himself, before he even realized he had done it.

He holds her for a long time, a long time until the trembling stopped and even after, Sans held her tightly against his chest until she was able to pull herself back together again.  It took time, a very long time for her breathing to even out and slow down. It took even longer for her to sit up slowly sit up and scrub at her face to wipe away the tears.

Sans looked away when her face contorted into shame and she scratched at her forearm, “You okay?”

Lilith gave a little sniff, and she coughed to clear her throat, “Yeah.” When she finally turns to look at him her eyes are still red but clear, and her smile is hesitant, “Thanks Sans.”

Sans nodded, leaning back onto his hands, he swung his legs over the edge of the bridge. Lilith took another several minutes to fully uncurl beside him, her own long legs dangling over the darkness. They sat next to each other quietly in the sweltering heat of Hotland, and Sans could feel Lilith’s embarrassment leaching from her.

“You know,” he wants her to be at ease, to be okay with everything, “You don’t need to be emberressed. Everyone’s afraid of something.”

Lilith sighed and nodded, “Yeah I know. It’s just…” she paused and shook her head, “I guess you’ve seen me in a more vulnerable state.”

Sans gives her a brief smile, “I have seen you bleeding out twice.”

Lilith’s grin is a shy one when she finally looks up at him, and he’s briefly distracted by the shiny new scar at her throat, a reminder that he almost lost her, “Yes, that’s true. And I almost kissed you when I was a little loopy.”

Sans snorted, nodding at her words as he blushed a little, “Yeah. That’s a thing that happened.” And he can’t help but wonder what her lips would feel like. Would she kiss him slow and deep? Or fierce and claiming? 

Shaking the thought from his head, even as Lilith goes a little red, “Yeah, sorry. I didn’t mean to…” her face goes bright red when she looks down, and Lilith feels stupid. She likes Sans, she knows she does, so why would she do something so stupid?

“Why’re you sorry?” Sans asks, genuinely confused.

“You’re not into humans, right?” she says softly, and Sans can’t be sure, but she actually looks a little sad at the thought, “So, that’s not okay.”

Sans blinks at her and he turns to stare intently at the darkness below him and he squirms. He knows that there are few precious moments like this, that he gets the opportunity to get what he wants for once. He never gets what he wants, but he has a chance here. Clearing his throat, Sans gives a shrug, “I wouldn’t say that evil mage. I…like. You.”

It’s like pulling teeth with plyers, and Lilith’s head snaps around so quickly that he’s afraid that her skull will snap off from her spine, “What?” she sounds so surprised, so shocked that Sans pulls in on himself a little with embarrassment. Perhaps he had miss read the situation?

Sans shrugs, unable to look at her and he curls a little further into his ball and he’s sure that he’s ruined their friendship. Darkness fills his soul and hurt washes over him; that was stupid. It was stupid to hope for something more, stupid to want something more and he hated himself. He knew the mage was way out of his league, why would she want a bag of bones like him? She wouldn’t. 

Lilith blinks at him, watches him deflate and pull in on himself as heartache flashes over his features, and suddenly there’s a burst of hope in _her_ chest. Sans likes her. She hasn’t had someone like _her_ since her teens. She hasn’t had any potential mates not be afraid or intimidated by her in over a century.   

 Yet, Sans likes her.

She almost feels giddy, like a teenager with her first crush and not a battle-hardened mage and for a moment she doesn’t know what to do with the new bit of information. What was she supposed to do? It wasn’t like she had ever been in this situation before. What the hell did other people do when they had a crush who liked them back?

She sits there for a moment, frozen, watching Sans sink in on himself and Lilith smiles; Sans likes _her._ Isn’t afraid of her, he wants her. Heat gathers at Lilith’s cheeks, because in truth, she wants him as well. Sans, who held her when she was paralyzed with terror, whose power was hidden beneath a thick layer of sarcasm and depression. Who wasn’t afraid of her, actually liked her.  

Throwing caution to the wind, Lilith sits up a little straighter, and presses a hand to the centre of Sans’s back. She feels him flinch under her touch, so different from when they held each other when they were afraid and hurting. She doesn’t want Sans to be afraid of her, she doesn’t want Sans to cringe at her touch and think that she’s rejecting him.

“Hey Sans?” It takes effort, but her voice is soft as she twists to face him so that only one leg dangles over the edge of the bridge and the other is tucked under her. Lilith can’t help but smirk and wonders how they have made it here. Just moments ago, Sans held her while she trembled from her fear of spiders. Now?

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” He muttered darkly, bracing for rejection. After all, why would someone want to be with him? It wasn’t like he was an attractive monster; he was a skeleton that was all. He’s a low HP, too high of an LV, Judge who was a murderer.

Lilith frowned and reached for his chin, gently tilting his face up to her; the fear on his face is palatable, something so real that Lilith can feel it in her own soul. Her thumb brushes along his jaw line, and Sans can’t help but shiver at the touch; his eyes widen, and his eye-lights blow wide. He’s still and tense, waiting for her to laugh at him, to push him away and tell him she was just joking. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do when she did, but he tried to brace himself for it.

Lilith licked her lips and Sans finds himself suddenly fascinated by its movement, and he can’t help but wonder if she’d use her tongue if she kissed him.

“You need to give yourself more credit Sans.” She murmured softly, her lips brushing at his teeth before she slowly tilts her head and presses her mouth to Sans’s, her eyes slipping closed.

There’s a moment of disbelief, and for an instant Sans is sure he’s daydreaming or dead and this is some kind of weird flash in his mind of something he hoped for.

Then, his eyes flutter shut, and he allows himself to slowly kiss her back, feeling the gentleness of her lips against his. He lets himself be happy, his soul swells with a joy he is sure that he hasn’t felt in a very long time and he lets himself have this moment.

He kisses her back gently, and he reaches out to anchor himself to her shoulders tightly; their kiss is soft and slow. It’s one that fills his non-existent belly with butterflies at its sweetness, and Lilith holds him like he’s the most precious thing in the world to her.

He’s startled when he feels her tongue brush at his teeth, and he parts them, allowing her to deepen their kiss. Lilith sighing into it lightly when she tastes his magic. She lifts a hand up to cup at his vertebrae and he grasped at her hip to pull her tighter to his body, and Sans can’t believe that this is happening. He can’t believe that he’s getting to kiss the girl, and Lilith is so gentle. Her hands, although scared and calloused, they’re so reassuring on his smooth bones.  

Sans moans when Lilith’s tongue rolls gently over his own and he can feel her grin against him before they slowly break apart. Lilith rests her forehead against his own and there’s a soft smile on her lips and Sans finds himself relaxing into her. The heavy, lead ball in his soul eases as the tension drains from his shoulders and he relaxes against her.

There’s a bright flash of warmth in his soul, and he breaths in her soft magic, “That was…thanks.”

Lilith’s smile turns into a rare mischievous grin, and she feels a flash of happiness, “Any time.” She means it, she would kiss Sans again, any time, so long as he wanted it too.

Their second kiss, Sans leaned up into her, his own hands reaching up to cup her face like she had him, holding her like she was delicate and needed protection. Lilith sighed into his mouth, parting her lips to allow him to explore her mouth as she had his own, tasting her softly. Her lush mouth so different from the magic he was used to, different in all the best ways, her skin soft despite the raised scars that litter her body.

One of his hands falls to her shoulder, this thumb brushing at one of the raised edges from where she had been stabbed by something.

Lilith’s hands drifted to his shoulders, squeezing tightly as they kissed softly. It was perfect, and Sans felt the softness from Lilith’s mouth, the gentleness in his soul and the heat form Hotland. Lilith was lax against him, and her hands moved over his shoulders and down his back to lightly scratch at his back ribs through his sweater; Sans groaned at the careful touch, and Lilith smiled into their kiss.

They were happy. It was a moment of reprieve from the horror of ninety-three resets, a pure moment of relaxation when they both got what they wanted. It was a moment of true, unbridled joy to have Lilith in his arms, and to be in her arms. Sans had forgotten what it felt like to be wanted by someone, to want someone back just as much.

It was easy to forget, in that moment, the horrors of the underground. It was easy to forget that they were fighting for their lives, in that brief, sweet moment.

It was too easy to let your guard down.

Sans didn’t feel the vine wrapping around his leg until it was too late, didn’t feel a vine wrapping his control hand into a tight fist, leaving him helpless. Shock, surprise and horror washed over him as he was suddenly torn away from Lilith with a brutality that had Sans gasping in shock.

He caught the horror in Lilith’s eyes, the flash of crimson as magic filled her as he was ripped away from her. It happened so quickly that neither were able to grasp onto the other, and suddenly Sans was being dragged away on his belly, away from the mage who just a moment ago was kissing him so gently.

Horror and confusion wash over him, and he can see the same emotions flicker through Lilith’s eyes as he torn from her.

She’s on her feet, taring after him with speed that was bred from war and battle; and he tries to dig his fingers into the packed rock of the bridge, his phalanges bleed marrow as he’s dragged away and two of them pop as they are dislocated.

The vines are faster than Lilith, if only just, and she traces for him; becoming smoke and magic, and she comes out of the trace in a dive for his free hand. She almost has him, her fingers brush at his broken and bleeding phalanges.

Lilith misses, and horror fills both Sans and Lilith as the vines drag Sans into the darkness of Hotland, his name torn from Lilith’s chest in a desperate cry of hurt and rage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Sans...


	15. An Act of Utter Cruelty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is caught by the worst people, and Lilith can only try to pick up the pieces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright my dear readers, the next chapter. This week is going to be a nightmare at work, so instead of leaving you all hanging for another week, you get a chapter early. 
> 
> With the being said, this is a ROUGH chapter. This is the chapter that the WARNINGS in the tags and the EXPLICIT warning are talking about, so be sure to read them. This is the last warning, so as such this chapter does contain a rather descriptive rape scene and the after math of that act. If you are uncomfortable with this, now is the time to hit the back button and skip this chapter. Although it will be discussed later on as the characters deal with what happens, it will not be in such detail. 
> 
> Keep yourself safe, and if you are skipping this chapter no worries, there will be a brief, non detailed synopsis of what happened at the bottom of the chapter. 
> 
> Otherwise, come on in friends.

Lilith ran hard, pouring her freshly recovered magic into her muscles as she tore after Sans, or at least the direction he had been dragged. Rage burned through her and she dumped more magic into her body as tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.

She forced it away, bottled her emotions and shoved them into the deepest, darkest part of her mind to sort through later; she needed to focus on finding Sans not focusing on her terror and concern. Finding him was what was most important, she would sort through her emotions later.

She had done this in the war and bottling her feelings for later settles over her like an old glove, it’s like riding a bike and you never forget how to do it. She knew better then to bottle them up forever, she would need to sort through them but later. Sans was important.

Her sneakers slapped into the hot, rocky bridge of Hotland and already her magic was starting to seep out through her skin as she ran; slowly her jeans melted into the stretchy material that she wore in battle and her sneakers were rippling into knee high boots.

Still she ran, her breath coming in deep, quick breaths as she pushed herself to keep running. She needed to find him, she needed to. She wasn’t going to lose him now, not when they had come so far, not when they shared that delicate softness. Not when she liked him so much.

He was her friend.

He was her Den mate.

She _liked_ him more then just a friend.

Lilith would be damned if she would let Flowey take him from her now. That was who had him, Lilith was certain. There was no one else who had green vines like that, and Lilith’s stomach twisted.

She shoved it down for later and calls his name desperately. She just needed a hint, the smallest clue to find him. Anything.  

Lilith skidded to a stop, her boots sliding across the rocky walkway easily when she came to the elevator that said ‘R2’.

She spun around, her eyes flickered black in rage and Lilith looked around wildly the way she had come. She bottles her despair for later, it won’t serve her here. Her rage will give her power, her determination will give her clarity, but despair will only slow her down and she doesn’t have the time. Sans doesn’t have the time. There was nothing the way she came from, no monsters were on the bridge, none of them seemed willing to encounter her fury.

Lilith snarled, howling in rage like a caged beast while anguish and anxiety roil, and her LV bubbles hotly under her skin burning her from the inside out. Every instinct was screaming at her to find him, to kill who dare harm one of hers, _~~to murder who dare harm Sans. If they hurt him, so help her…~~_

Lilith shoved her rage into its box, it would not serve her. Not now. Later. When she found Flowey, she’d let that little time bomb out of its box and unleash all her rage onto that little snot nosed, flower fuck.

The black rage receded from her eyes, leaving crimson behind and Lilith took deep, hard breaths.  She reached deep into her well of magic, reaching for power she hasn’t used in over eighty years, things that made her frightening in the war. Magic that allowed her to seek out her enemies and murder them before they could do the same to her.

Now, she would use that same power to find Sans. She knew what his magic felt like, _tasted like_ , and she would find him. The crimson of her eyes began to darken into the same shade of blood as she descended deeper into her well of magic and tapped into her most savage power.

Lilith planted her feet and focused her magic into the earth beneath her feet. Magic the color of blood spread out from her in straight lines and ninety-degree angles, moving rapidly through Hotland in search of Sans.

With a growl, Lilith poured more magic into the ground beneath her feet and the road map of magic spread out quickly from her. As soon as one of those tendrils touched Sans she would know, and she would know exactly where he was.

He had to be in a hidden room, one Frisk had not found, like the cave there the Temmie like to hide.

A monster, one that Lilith had not seen before, either in person or through Frisk’s memories, came waddling down the bridge. The round, orange monster took one look at her with wide, terrified eyes before he squeaked out an ‘I’m sorry!’ before he turned and ran the way he’d come.

Gauntlets and her chest plate settled over her body, and Lilith shifted comfortably as her armor wrapped around her; the magic she was using felt good to reach into once again. It was old and powerful, and she reveled in her power.

She crossed her arms over her chest, the pauldrin at her shoulder shifting with her movement and she pushed her magic out further; her face became cold and impassive, and the tattoo at her wrist glowed the same shade of red as her magic.

Oh, she would find him, and she would get retribution. She would get even. She would make whoever took him pay, and she would take him away. Lilith would take Sans some place safe and she would tuck her magic and rage back into its box and sort through her emotions.

For now, her magic spread out through level two of Hotland, moving rapidly as she sought him out.

“Hang on Sans.” She muttered under her breath, “I’m coming for you.”

-

Sans tried to fight the vines that bound him tightly, he struggled hard and fought but was unable to break the thick binds that drag him backwards through Hotland.

Magic is his wheelhouse, not physical strength; that was Lilith and Papyrus’s thing. Distantly he knew that either one of them would have been able to break free of the vines, but without his magic to increase his power, Sans was helpless. 

Still, he fought. He struggled and clawed at the ground, swallowing his cry of pain as two of his phalange bent the wrong way and still, he tried to find a hold onto anything. Anything to slow him down, to let Lilith catch up and get to him.

His bones scrapped across the rocks of the bridge, scraping at the top layer of magic from his hand and knees, leaving a smear of marrow over his bones.

He’s jerked into another direction with a grunt, and his phalange slip across the glass of an invisible bridge as he’s plunged into darkness for a moment; Sans feels terror take his soul when it brightens into the secret meeting spot for the art club. A room that Frisk has never found, one of the few secrets that Sans had wanted to leave for her in case this all went sideways, give her something new to discover.

It also means that Lilith doesn’t know about this room, that she can’t draw from her sister memories to find him.

Vines wrap tightly around the wrist of his broken hand, twining up his legs to pull him taunt against the hot rock at his back, Sans tried to struggle against the vines that held him too tightly. He took a deep breath, readying to call for Lilith, for help, for anybody, when vines invaded his mouth in a horrifying thick, spiny glob that scrapped at the inside of his jaws.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Sans tried to struggle as sweat began to bead at his forehead from the stress and heat. He tried to call for help, but his voice is muffled by the thick vines in his mouth and throat, tearing at the magic that allows him to speak.

The more he fights the harder the vines pull against him, pulling him flat to the ground, his arms and legs spread and helpless. Anger flickers through him, masking his terror and his tears evaporate as magic fills his eye and flickers yellow and blue.

Flowey bursts from the ground next to him, looking dead eyed, his sharp grin directed at Sans, “What’s wrong smiley trash bag? Thought you’d think this was funny.”

Flowey’s smile grows wide at his muffled anger and Sans feels the thorns score the bone at the inside of his mouth, at his throat where his magic is barely visible and allowed him to speak; he can taste spent magic at the back of his conjured tongue and he knows he’s bleeding.

Sans keeps trying to fight, keeps trying to struggle and rip the vines from the earth, hating how helpless he suddenly was.

“Tsk, task.” Flowey shakes his head slowly, smirking, “All that magic, no way to use it.” Sans snarls as Flowey squeezes the wrist of his control hand hard, and for a moment Sans is sure he’s going to break it.

“Tha’s not the plan Flowey.” Oliva stumbles from the pathway, her lavender eyes are dark and angry, and they burn with her hurt.

Sans tries to tell her off, tries to struggle harder but he can’t. He can’t move, not with how well Flowey has him pinned and dread suddenly fills him. It’s so thick and so sudden, Sans can feel it like slime over his bones, like lead in his soul.

He swallows his whimper, hides his distraught behind a mask of anger but he’s suddenly on display for Oliva. He’s suddenly helpless and being bent to her will, and there is no one coming to save him this time.

Her angry, lavender eyes flick to the fabric that humms happily at his writs and she nods, “Right. I haven’t forgotten. We need to take it off.” She smiles at nothing over her shoulder, nodding along to something he can’t see.

His eyes widen and the lights disappear in his sudden anxiety and despair as he glances desperately to the fabric that hums happily at his wrist.; No. No, no, no, no. Nononononononono. It couldn’t be.

Oliva walks slowly over to him, sitting over his hips and grinding down into him as she reaches for his wrist to untie the glowing fabric and the magic that protects him. He growls like a beast trapped in a cage, it rattles deep from his chest and the thorns tare at his throat, but he refuses to be cowed.

Oliva smirks when she pulls the fabric with all its protection and intent is pulled form his wrist and for a moment nothing happens; and Sans has hope. Maybe enough intent had sunk into his bones to offer him protection, maybe Lilith’s blood and Sloan’s magic had rubbed off on him to protect him without it.

Chara slowly shimmered into existence and she smirks at Sans; hatred bleeding from her mouth and eyes as she grinned down at him. The wound from before is still gooey and unhealing, dripping hate from her face like tar.

Her head tilted, and she smiled cruelly, “Hello Sans.” He feels sick when she says his name, its soft and wrong coming from her mouth, and he’s briefly ashamed when he gives into his fear. The small sound that is ripped from his chest is brittle and hurt, and Sans knows that nothing good is about to happen to him.

His eyes glance desperately to Oliva’s smirking face and dread fills him. Fear that is so soul deep he can feel it in the core of his very being.

The bun smirks at him, and any thought of their friendship is suddenly tainted, “Ain’t got no girl to save ya this time Sansy.”

“And he was so cruel to you.” Chara agreed, purring as she turned to look at Oliva, her face pulling into a fake pout, “So cruel. When you were nothing but kind.” Oliva is nodding at Chara’s words, looking hurt and hungry, and Sans shivers.

No. This isn’t about to happen. Not now. Not after kissing Lilith. Not when he has a chance to be happy.

Chara smirks, encouraging, “You know what you need to do Oliva. Get even. Take what you need, what you deserve. You have it, right? I told you where to find it in Muffet’s shop?”   

Oliva licks her lips and Sans cringes away, his body tense and coiled tightly, as she nods at Chara’s slick words. “Yeah.” She’s breathless and her words are suddenly throaty, “I do.”

From her inventory she pulls out what looks like a syringe; its contents are bright pink and thick, and Sans has no idea what’s in it, and he’s afraid. Desperately afraid. Flowey pulls at his arm, overextends it until the cushion of magic that settles between the joint is pushed to the surface, and he cringes when Oliva touches the pocket of magic gently. It’s sensitive, and her soft touch sends a pulse of gentle pleasure down his arm, and Sans ruthlessly crushes the though of _maybe this won’t be so bad._ It will be this bad, no matter how gentle they are.  

“So pretty.” She sighed over his soft blue magic, pressing her thumb into the sensitive joint and Sans swallows the groan. He won’t give her the satisfaction, it’s all he can do in the face of her hands on his body. He can’t fight back; he can’t access his magic and he is completely at her mercy.

Oliva presses the needle into the joint softly, as though she was trying to not hurt him as she injected _something_ into his body. She leaned back when she was done, tucking the empty needle back into her inventory and looking very pleased with herself.

Chara crooned at Oliva’s ear, grinning darkly at Sans, “Good girl. Good job Oliva. You deserve this, he deserves this.”

Drunkenly, Oliva nods and for a brief moment she looks at him with a lop-sided smile, as though they were still friends. “It’s okay Sans. This won’t hurt.” He’s certain it will, but all he can do is glare and his arm is going cold like ice. “You’ll like it. It’ll feel good.”

Chara’s smirk is cruel and dark, and she knows she’s got him. She’s going to get to do something new and horrifying to him, and she’s going to win. He thinks about Lilith and her soft mouth on his own, her hands on his face and he clings to that; he clings to that feeling and he hopes that when all is said and done, she won’t hate him.

The coldness is spreading; down to the tips of his fingers and up to his shoulder. It moves across his ribs and into his soul, and the _heat_ is right behind it. Suddenly, Sans feels too hot, his body too sensitive as the heat spreads through his bones, making them slick with sweat.

Oliva’s soft, fur covered hand slips under his shirt, and he can’t swallow the moan and presses up into her touch as pleasure spreads throughout his body. He doesn’t understand why he’s so sensitive or why that simple touch rung such pleasure from him.

Oliva gasps in delight, her fingers slowly pumping his spine, dragging soft, small noises from him, “Oh.” She sounds utterly delighted, “It’s working so much better than I thought it would.”

Sans squeezes his eyes shut, trying to force the thoughts away. Tries to ignore it even as heat spreads throughout his body, throbbing into his soul, and he hates himself for it. Stars on fire, they’re going to do this, and he grieves for a moment. They’re about to take something away from him, something that Sans genuinely enjoys with a _willing_ partner and they’re going to hurt him with it.  

Chara chuckles, her mouth suddenly very close to his skull when she spoke, her voice so full of malice, “A heat potion. It’s supposed to help monsters conceive by brining on symptoms of a heat.” Sans tries to lean away, but Flowey has him tightly and he can’t move.

He makes a soft, wet noise when his soul appears, bright and silver over his chest and he swallows his despair as Oliva gasps.

“It makes you sensitive Sans, it _helps_ conjurer your soul when your shy.” Chara chuckles softly.

He’s trembling when Oliva reaches out to touch his soul with a hungry look in her eyes, and his bones rattle when she touches him. She cups his soul in her hands, her furry thumbs brushing over the scared but soft surface of everything that is him.

Silvery fluid is already coating his soul, making it slick and falling thickly onto his sweater, and the pleasure that fills him drives his magic between his legs hotly and he moans. Pleasure burns through every inch of his body, and Sans has never felt so fucking violated in his life. His body burns in pleasure and his soul roils in anguish and rage, and he wishes Lilith would come save him.

He doesn’t want her to see him like this, panting into the vines in his mouth and Oliva touching his soul, but she would stop it. She would protect him and make this stop.

Oliva licks at him; her tongue is hot against his throbbing soul and the feeling of violation only grows thick within him as his magic feels hot inside his bones. His release is hard, his magic flaring erratically and his pleasure filled cries were muffled by Flowey.

His head is spinning, and he sees stars, but he’s certain that Chara sighed as she absorbed the magic he expelled. Sans tries to swallow, but the vines are too thick in his throat and he’s so tired suddenly.

The sound of shoes on the hot rock just beyond the darkness, makes everyone freeze and Sans feels a flair of hope. Lilith’s looking for him, she’ll come for him and protect him. He just needs to get her attention, he just needs to alert her, he just needs-

Oliva squeezed his soul so tight it makes his vision go black with agony, and even that doesn’t make his magic cool. He gasps, trying to fight through the pain as Lilith ran by, looking for him.

Then she’s gone, and his chance gone with her.

He slings curses at Oliva, hiding his roiling emotions, burying them behind a wall of anger.

Oliva glared at the entrance of the cave, her thumb now brushing at his slick soul as she thought, so thoughtless in her violation of _him_. He’s never shared his soul with another, not ever, not even Muffet, who he had relations with and was on good terms with. No, his soul was his own, scared as it was, it was his and it was something he didn’t want to give to just anyone.

 Lilith, he thinks dizzily, he would have wanted to give it to her maybe. She’d have been so, so gentle with him, so kind. She’s be thorough, Sans was willing to bet, would wring every….Sans cuts the line off thought. He refuses to fall into a fantasy and taint the mage’s memory with what’s happening to him.  

“Flowey,” Oliva’s words are distant and angry, even as she debased his soul. “Take off his cloths.”

For a moment, Flowey hesitated, the vines that twined within his bones writhed in uncertainty, “Are you sure?” 

Oliva nodded slowly even as she toyed with his soul; pleasure rolls through him and Sans manages to bite back the moan building at the back of his throat. He manages to swallow thickly, tightening around the vines that Flowey has forced part way down his throat. He hates himself that this feels good, he hates that his body is reacting like this and he can’t fight it. “Yes, do it.”

Flowey sighed, then nodded, “Sure, why not. Let’s see where this goes.”

Vines wrapped around his hoodie, pulling it off his shoulders as others tugged down his shorts so they pooled at his feet. Hot air brushed at his overly sensitive bones, and he was already slick between his legs, painfully hard at the same time, his body begging for someone to touch him.

_He doesn’t want Oliva to touch him, he wants…_

He kills the thought and refuses to think of Lilith during this. Not here, but it’s hard. So hard, and he smirks at the thought at the dirty pun he knows Oliva would hate. Lilith would have laughed, but he won’t sully her memory with what’s about to happen.  

Flowey pulls off his shorts and pulls his thighs apart even as Sans fought hard to keep them together. He can feel Flowey pulling his sweater off, and there is a brief moment when Flowey releases his broken hand to pull off his sweater, and Sans take advantage.

Despite the shame, despite the humiliation and violation that drown his soul, Sans strikes with surprising speed and leaves bloody claw marks across Oliva’s muzzle. She stumbles back and he blacks out with pain when she squeezes his soul again and he goes limp; he can feel his sweater being peeled away before he’s pulled taunt against the rock.  

Flowy simply sighs as he recaptures Sans’s hand and pins it back down; more vines grasp at his soft t-shirt, tearing through the soft fabric to rip it apart, leaving him naked and helpless. He tried to struggle again, fueled by fear and anger, but Flowey is stronger, pins him down easily, pulling his limbs so he is spread against the warm rock.  

His head spins when Chara tuts behind them, “See Oliva? What did I say? He _deserves_ it.”

Oliva is staring at him wide eyed, even as one hand grasps is throbbing soul and the other, her bleeding face. She’s not his friend anymore, hasn’t been in a long time. Anger floods her eyes, and she nods again, “He does.”

Chara is nodding, her faux sympathy churns his stomach even as pleasure spreads from his chest. Oliva is still playing with his soul, her nail oh so gently scraping at the slick surface and it takes concentrated effort to not whimper and press into that touch.

He reminded himself, again and again, that he didn’t like this. He didn’t want this. He doesn’t want Oliva to touch him like this, that she is violating him, will do so much worse to him. That he’s slick and hard and helpless, and already he can feel heat gathering his body as Oliva toys with his soul.

She’s still petting his soul in slow slick strokes when she reaches out between his legs, and Sans tries to brace as though he’s bracing for pain when she softly touches his slick entrance. Sans whimpers softly, at the gentle touch and pleasure spreads through him, intense and focused.

She’s touching his soul slowly, sensually and her fingers ease into his body to pump him softly, and Sans must remind himself again and again that his is abuse, that she’s violating him, and he doesn’t want this. The second time his body is forced into release, magic expelling hotly from his bones, Sans sobs softly as pleasure wracks his body; Chara is grinning as she absorbs the magic that he’s sheading. His magic throbs painfully hotly and pleasure only spreads through is body.

His head is spinning when Oliva releases his soul, and he feels limp and boneless; shame twists his soul at the soft noises he’s making. Whatever magic they’ve injected into him is making his body react, he knows it, making him pant hotly into the vines in his mouth but he still hates himself.

He’s terrified of what Lilith will think of him if she finds him now.

Oliva pulls something from her inventory, and Sans feels his eyes go wide in horror and he shakes his head no in denial; in her hands is _something_ that is thick and rough and vaguely cylindrical. It looks like it might be made from rock, with sharp edges and sides rough enough to do damage, and far, far too big.

His breathing hitches and he shakes his no again. She can’t, it won’t fit, she couldn’t possibly…

Oliva lines the thing up with him, brushing at his entrance with the hot rock as she reaches for his soul. A broken whimper bubbles at his throat and he tries to dig for his anger. It’s easier to be angry, this will be easier to endure if he’s fueled by rage. Yet, he’s only afraid, deeply, deeply afraid.

He cries out, pain is sharp and bright through his haze of pleasure as Oliva presses the thing inside of him. He can feel his magic stretch painfully, can feel his magic tear at the sharp edges and rubbed raw at the rough patches. It hurts as she presses it deeply inside, and pain bleeds through everything else and Sans clings to it. Clings to the agony of being stretched painfully full, and he uses it to fuel his anger.

Oliva smiles at him, lopsided as she pets his face once its fully seated inside his body; he’s panting hard as he burns from the inside despite the slickness of his body. Oliva croons at him, and Sans makes the mistake to glance up at Chara’s smirking face; she’s enjoying this.

“That’s right sweetheart,” she gentles him, “Take it.” His eyes water when she twists the thing inside of him and he feels his magic give and tear; he knows that all the damage will disappear the moment he has the ability dismiss his magic.  

Until then, he clings to the pain. He clings to it even as Oliva climbs over him, and Chara giggles. He clings to it when she sinks down onto his long, hard length that he has no choice in, and he clings to his pain when Oliva groans his name.

Pleasure and pain mingle within his body, and he arches into her touches; when he constricts around the thing it cuts into him and he clings to the misery. He just needs to survive. It’s what he’s good at, if nothing else Sans is a survivor.

He swallows the pained, little noise down hard when Oliva moves over him slowly, drooping hard onto him; he focuses on weird things as he retreats inside himself, despite how brutally he’s being violated, how his body is forced to react in ways he didn’t want it to. He ignored how his body was abused, he focused on the bright orange stone above his head. He could see the way condensation glistened on the petals of the flowers of the cactus. He remembers the way Chara’s eyes glimmer, and how different the red is from Lilith’s, as she leans over to smile cruelly at him, “Wish I’d done this long-ago Comedian. Would have, had I known it would hurt you so much.”

He was dizzy and hurting when Oliva wrung another forced orgasm from his battered body, Sans arched and cried out as he burned from the inside out. He’s so ashamed of himself, that he gave in so easily even while being drugged and that his body betrayed him this way.

He saw the blood red magic spreading out on the orange rocky ground he was being pulled flat against. He can see his bones bruising from where Flowey has him bound tightly, his bones feel warm from where the magic touches him.  

His tense body relaxes despite what’s being done to it when the magic touches him. It’s warm and familiar, and it glows brightly against him. It seeps into his bones and moves slowly to his soul. It numbs the pain in his body, and he closes his eyes to allow himself to sink into the comfort of magic that isn’t his.

The magic spreads out around them, but only Sans seems to notice, and he clings to the rare comfort as Oliva moves over him. The magic glows hotly around them, and he can feel the violent intent _around_ him; any of the fierce magic that touches _him_ is full of protection and affection, soothing his battered body.

The magic around them reacts so suddenly, so violently, that had Sans been in any other position he would have been in awe at its destructive force, its harmful intent.

The magic gathered, concentrating in wide circles around them before it spiraled upward aggressively like drills, coming to a sharp, fine point at Oliva’s chest.

Four more tore through Flowey’s vines, ripping them from his body and the vines that pinned him down turned to dust; it filled his mouth and Sans choked, trying to thrash in his panic, trying to get the taste of dust from his mouth. Oliva was still pinning his hips and his body was still reacting to the forced pleasure even as those drills surrounded him carefully, not once touching him to point aggressively at Oliva.

Chara sighed softly, and Sans could see her slump as Flowey retreated with a hiss, “Well that’s too bad.” Chara tutted and dissolved into nothingness, leaving Oliva to deal with the furious battle mage.

“Get. The Fuck. Off. Him.” Sans had never heard Lilith’s voice so cold, so devoid of happiness or life. He had never heard such violence held in such a simple tone, such hardness from anyone before.

He’s panting and helpless on the ground, and he squeezes his eyes shut as he trembles. He can hear Chara laughing at him, mocking his pain and he knows with utter certainty that Lilith cannot see her; the fabric that humms happily at her wrist keeps her safe.

“He wants this.” Oliva tells her instantly, both desperate and afraid, believing her own lie.

The sharp point of blood-red magic shoots out at Oliva, taring across the side of her muzzle, next to the wound Sans had given her, making her cry out in pain. The points of magic spiral out of the earth around him as Lilith stalks forward, and the magic around them trembles with her rage.

Oliva gasps and scrambles backwards, coming off his body with a slimy pop that allows Sans to curl into a tight ball around his battered soul. His body aches, and there is a pain in his soul that makes him double over. He’s afraid to look at it to check, he’s afraid he’ll find a crack, a real one this time splitting his soul painfully.

Lilith glides after Oliva, like a jungle cat playing with its prey until Oliva has her back pressed into a wall, her eyes hold unknown terror as she stares up at the mage. Lilith’s magic moves with her, spreading out from where her feet touch the ground, sparling upwards to create a blockade between him and Oliva.     

They raise from the ground, some becoming liquid like as the move throughout the air like snakes rearing back to strike and Sans knows he should marvel at her control, that dozens of spikes are raising from the ground to pin Oliva to the rock without touching her, but all Sans can focus on is that _Lilith found him_.

Oliva brushes at one of the spikes, hissing in pain as it burns like acid from the violent intent in Lilith’s magic, and Sans knows she’ll kill Oliva.

“Lilith?” his voice is thick with fear and heavy with his want. He needs to be touched, somehow, anyway. He knows it’s only the potions they forced into him, and Lilith won’t hurt him, he knows she won’t take advantage.

_He remembers the way her tongue rolled over his, soft and sweet in a loving kiss that made his head spin. Lilith had kissed him, and he liked it._

Would she be disgusted by him now that he had been soiled?  Would she even want to be his friend never mind kiss him again?

The thought brings tears to his eyes, and he is so certain she will reject him he feels his soul crumple. He can practically hear the _snap_ as something inside of him gives, “Lilith?”

She hears his soft, broken voice the second time he calls her name and Lilith pauses. There is so much burning intent, such a great need to do harm to Oliva that she almost misses it in her drive to seek vengeance.

She glances over her shoulder, eyes burning with white hot anger at him and Sans flinches back, shying under her rage. Through her haze of rage, Lilith’s heart squeezes in her chest and she tries to soften for him, she tries to cool her anger into something that won’t frighten him.

She glances back to Oliva, and her anger bubbles hotly under her skin and she knows that it wouldn’t take much to turn Oliva to dust. Just a little bit of intent, a smidge of control and a spear would be through her soul and she would be dust. She wouldn’t be able to hurt Sans again, they were in her territory, Lilith had every right. She could…

“Lilith please.” Sans voice is like cold water over the fire that has engulf her soul. Her LV is bubbling like acid under her skin, but Sans is a balm to cool it.

With one last feral glare at Oliva, she turns to him and Lilith softens only a little, and for a moment isn’t sure what to do. Sans is staring back up at her with wide, frightened eyes from the tight ball he has curled in to; she could see the soft glow from between his legs and she smothered her curiosity brutally. She wasn’t going to ask how that was even possible, not now, not after what just happened.

His broken hand is pulled tightly to his belly in the centre of his ball, and his control hand is cupping his soul to desperately protect it, silver light is dim between his fingers and shining far too dull. Sans looks so small and vulnerable; Lilith is certain that any amount of pressure will make him break.

Licking her lips, Lilith bends to pick up his soiled hoodie, grimacing at its filth but its better then nothing and she squeezes it in her fists. Feeling something hard in the pocket, she fishes his cellphone from its soft folds and tucks it in her back pocket.

Sans cringes away from her when she takes a step towards him, his body trembling and his bones rattling; she hasn’t seen fear like this in anyone’s eyes in a very long time, not since the war and it sits wrong on Sans. Not so long ago they had been kissing, now Sans looks like he ready to flee from her.

Lilith takes another half step, moving slowly she tries to keep her voice soft, “Heya Sans. It’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

He’s looking at her feverishly and afraid, magic gathering hotly at his joints. His breathing was coming in fast, little pants and Lilith frowned as his eye-lights started to dilate, becoming hazy at the edges, “It’s hot. I’m hot. Too hot.”

Dread squeezed at Lilith’s heart and she turned angrily back to Oliva, “What did you do to him?” she demanded, leaving no room for argument.

“Nothing!” Oliva gasped, flattening herself against the wall as the drills spiral closer to her body, brushing against her fur.

“Liar.” Lilith hisses at her, rage making her hands shakes as the drills inch even closer.

Oliva cried out as the first spiral touches her shoulder, “It’s a heat potion! She told me that it will make him want it. Want me!” the lavender eyes become angry as they stare at Lilith, despite the magic that pinned her. “This is your fault. He never said no until he met you! He wanted me until he met you!”

Snarling, Lilith takes a step back towards Oliva, readying her magic to kill; the dark magic is already starting to spin, and it wouldn’t take much effort to push those drills into her body, just the slightest intent and Oliva would be dust and ash.  

“Don’t.” Sans manages to croak, fighting the haze of whatever they gave him, shifting with a wince and clinging to the pain. “Chara did. Her fault.” He shakes his head as though trying to shake away the magic that sticks to him, “Call Undyne. Proper. Channels.”

Lilith frowns as she watches him struggle, and she hates the thought of letting Oliva live for a second time. It would be so easy to kill her, to end it. Then she can focus on killing Chara a second time.

Sans groans and whimpers, distress is bleeding from him like an open wound and Lilith can’t bring herself to add to it.  “Lilith, it’s so hot.” He whimpers, and potion they had injected into him making his body hot and no longer had an outlet for all the extra magic. “Hurts.”

Lilith softens as much as she’s able, and three steps brings her kneeling in front of him, but she doesn’t dare touch. Not yet. Instead she calls Undyne, squeezing his hoodie tightly in one of her hands while her tattoo glows the color of blood, and the conversation is short and brutally efficient.

He cringes away when he hears Lilith say, “I need you to come to the art room in Hotland. Sans’s need you.” There was a long pause, and through the haze of heat Sans can hear Undyne’s loud voice but not her words. Lilith’s words back is cold as ice and she keeps a hold of his eyes, “He’s been raped Undyne. I need you to come help me.”

Whatever the fish monster says to Lilith is short and hard, and when they hang up the mage has no question about how quickly Undyne will get to them.

It also allows Lilith to give Sans her undivided attention and he cringes away. He can feel the potion crawling through his bones and his head is going fuzzy again. He shifts his hips on purpose so that the thing that is still inside of him bleeds pain, and it helps him focus.

“Sans, what do you need?” Lilith’s voice is soft when she asks him, soothing in a way. His forced arousal only increases to his great shame.

He shakes his head no, and he curls tighter into a ball. Lilith is still and she quietly offers his hoodie to him, “Do you want this?”

He shakes his head no, “Hot.” He manages to whimper, and he’s torn between wanting the comfort of his hoodie and the heat, between wanting Lilith to hold him and not touch him at all.

She nods and gently sets the hoodie between them and he feels the prickle of a Check settle over his bones. He knows it’s bad when he hears Lilith suck in a sharp breath of air.

_Sans: The Judge_

_LV: 10_

_HP: 0.5_

_AT: 40_

_DF: 10_

_He’s very badly hurt. Most of it isn’t physical._

Lilith swallows hard. His stats have all dropped, like Sans has no will to fight back or defend himself. Licking her teeth, Lilith makes her voice as soothing as possible, “Sans, where are you hurt?”

He pulls in on himself tightly and he shakes his head no. He can’t, he can’t let Lilith see the damage. He just can’t. She frowns but won’t force it. She won’t destroy the delicate thread of trust between them.

“It’s okay Sans.” She puts her hands up as though to surrender, never touching him instead focusing on what she can do. Her eyes slide over his damaged body, knowing she needs to start with the most damaged areas first, working towards parts of him that need little healing. He won’t allow it, she knows, but she needs to start somewhere.

“Can I see your hand?” she asks him softly, trying to keep her rippling anger and violent determination from him as he trembles.

Wide eye-lights look back up at Lilith, and Sans swallows hard. He nods slowly, uncurling his hand from his belly, showing Lilith the dislocated phalange. The rest of Sans curls tighter into his ball to protect his soul and the magic that has been conjured between his legs, and Lilith gives into the need to check on the rest of him as her eyes glance at the rest of his body.

Swallowing softly, she takes him by a bruised wrist to cradle his hand in hers. Nothing but time will heal the bruising, maybe some Sea Tea will help, but she can at least fix the two fingers that are pointing in the wrong direction.

Lilith hums softly and very gently strokes the top of his hand, her fingers running delicately over the metatarsals and magic; pleasure leaking from that gentle touch and Sans shivers when she touches him so soothingly. “It’s okay. You’re safe with me Sans.” She speaks to him like a wounded animal, gentling him as her fingers get closer to the dislocated ones that throb in his hand.

The magical cushion is overly bright and stretching painfully, and Sans can’t bring himself to look at his hand. Instead he tries to focus on the sharp bursts of pain between his legs and the contrasting touch of Lilith’s hand.

“This’ll be quick. It’ll hurt for just a second.” Her words are so gentle, and Sans shakes at them in a mixture of arousal and hurt. He’s scared and confused and doesn’t know what he wants.

“Look at me Sans.” He looked up to her blood red eyes, and they soften at his look of distress and hurt. “I’m going to pull them back into place on the count of three. Okay?” He’s already tensing, and he knows that it will be worse when he’s this stiff. That the bones wont pop back into place if he’s this anxious and she will likely have to do it again.

Yet, he can’t help it.

“Okay. One, two,” he squeezes his eyes shut and braces, “Three.” Nothing happens. Lilith is still petting his hand softly, the tips of her fingers gliding over his bones while she holds his hand with the other with a painful gentleness.

He opens his eyes after a few more seconds of nothingness, just her gentle touches on his hand, and there is a brief moment when he relaxes, “Aren’t you going to-“

Sans is cut off when Lilith’s knuckles suddenly clamp down around his dislocated fingers and pulls as hard as she can. Pain bursts though his hot arousal and Sans cries out as his fingers snap back into place, and Lilith’s hand suddenly tightens around his and squeezes.

“You’re okay.” Lilith sooths him, fighting with the urge to hold him close to her. “I just needed you to relax.”

Sans nods and all too soon the pain is fading and the hot magic in his bones is burning him again. She keeps holding his hand, anchoring him back to reality, “Sans.” Lilith’s voice is staring to return to her usual monotone, and Sans finds comfort in the normalcy.

He tries to squash the sudden arousal at her tone, but his body throbs hotly and he can’t help but hate himself for it. It doesn’t help that he does, in fact, like her.

“Where else are you hurt?” he freezes at her words, and he thinks about how the thing lodged inside of him hurts and the way his soul burns, but the words clog in his throat.

“What the fuck is going on?” Undyne’s rough voice is full of malice and rage as she stomps in, and Sans whimpers when she draws near.

The Gaster Blaster that he summons is instinctual, hoovering overhead like a massive warning to Fuck Off and both warriors freeze. Undyne doesn’t dare move as there is a whine of magic from the blaster above he and Lilith, and Sans squeezes back at Lilith as hard as he can even as his soul burns.  

Lilith doesn’t think, she just acts, pulling Sans into her arms and locking him against her chest; her arms are relatively light around him and he finds himself curling into her hold. It sends a terrified shiver though his body, but Lilith is powerful and solid against him, and he clings to that feeling of being protected as desperately as he does the pain in his body. Above them, the blaster waivers, shimmering in and out of sight, and Undyne slowly raises her hands in surrender.

“It’s just me Sans.” She speaks slowly and softly, “I’m your friend, remember?”

Despite being pulled tightly into her embrace, Sans still manages to hide the damage from Lilith; his arms are wrapped tightly around his chest, hiding his soul and his legs are clamped firmly shut. He can feel the rock inside of him, pressing painfully against the wall of his magic.

“I’ve got you. I’ve got you Sans, your safe.” Lilith murmurs against his skull, her soft lips soothing over the bone as she drops the gentlest kiss against the back of it.

He’s hurting and afraid, and he clings to her as he dissipates the blaster above them. Sweat is rolling down the back of his neck in earnest now, and he feels tired and sticky.

“I want to go.” He mutters against Lilith’s chest, but he doesn’t know where he wants to go.

Undyne slowly lowers herself next to Lilith and he can feel her anger burning into him as they speak in hard, hushed voices. He can feel the rage building between them and as one they glance back at Oliva.

Sans feels like he’s floating suddenly, dizzy and the heat inside his body is getting to be too much. Lilith’s soft hands on his body are too much, it sends burning pleasure through him, coupling with his sudden _want_ , the simple touches send him barreling towards another orgasm, this one accidental.

Both Lilith and Undyne freeze at his sudden cry of pleasure and the sudden gush of wetness from between his legs, and Sans is horrified at what just happened. It spills onto Lilith’s thigh, where he sat pulled against her; horror contorts Undyne’s face at what she just witnessed as confusion takes Lilith’s.

She reaches down under him and he whimpers when her fingers brush at the underside of his femur to touch the fluid on her leg. Confused, she brings her fingers back up to stare at the blue and red magic that now coat her digits, not understanding what she had just witnessed.

“Undyne, what? What is this?” she asks softly, there’s the start of horrified understanding there and she’s looking for confirmation.

Sans finally breaks; there’s another soft snap from his chest and it’s all suddenly just too much. Everything hurts, and he so scared he doesn’t know what to do with himself. He tucks his face into the side of her breast plate to hide himself from the world and his shoulders shake with silent sobs.

Undyne’s blush disappeared at the sight of the fluid on Lilith’s fingers, her embarrassment fading back into an easy rage as she points the different colored fluid, “That blue one,” the growing rage is barley contained to her voice, “Is lubricant. Like, when someone orgasms.” Lilith’s face went bright red as her silent question was confirmed. “The red one. That’s marrow.”

The embarrassment leaks back into confusion, “Marrow?”

Undyne nods slowly, “It’s what a skeleton monster bleed when they’re injured.”

The redness faded as Lilith suddenly paled, “Injured?” her arms are suddenly tighter against him and Lilith hopes it’s not restriction. Undyne nods and Lilith’s wide, angry eyes tip down to Sans, “Sans, where are you hurt?”

There is no question where San is hurt, the evidence is all over Lilith’s leg, wrought from him like an animal in heat. Sans curls tighter into his ball of hurt and he shakes his head no. He can’t, he can’t show them. It burns anew when he shifts, cutting into his magic even deeper and Sans wants to disappear; he can’t, he knows, he doesn’t even have the magic to push himself into a short cut.

“Sans.” Lilith’s voice is soft, full of concern, but he knows an order when he hears one. It makes him look up to her stern but soft face, and he takes comfort in that. Takes comfort that Lilith is a soldier, that this was not the first time she had probably been in this scenario, “Let me see where you’re hurt.”

He swallows hard and thinks about telling her no again just to see what she would do, but he knows it’s pointless. He _knows_ Lilith won’t force him, but she certainly won’t drop the issue either. Instead, he gives in.

He parts his legs silently while she held him, opening them just enough for Lilith and Undyne to peek between. There’s a moment when both of their faces contort into confusion at what they are seeing, neither understanding what Oliva has done to him, and Sans laughs bitterly at their faces.  It sounds wrong as it bubbles from his chest, more broken then humorous and it fades into a sob when understanding clicks in both of their features.

“Oh fuck.” Is all Lilith can gasp as her blood colored eyes stare at his hard length and his slick and bleeding entrance.

“Angle have mercy.” Undyne gasps, staring at the rock that is wedged inside of him through the haze of his summoned magic and ecto body and how swollen and hurt he was, “Is that a rock?”

Sans nods, tuning his face into Lilith to hide from their shock and their rage. Lilith was going to push him off her in disgust, he was sure of it. She was going to reject him and leave him here to suffer, and they were going to leave him, they…

Lilith cupped the back of his head as if he were the most precious thing in the world to her. Like he mattered at all. “I’ve got you Sans. I’ve got you.” She murmured softly, still staring in shock at the brutality that had been inflicted onto him, and he can’t comprehend what’s happening.

She’s untying her sash, leaving her waist with only the slick undershirt for protection and with Undyne’s help she folds it neatly on the ground in front of her, “We need to get it out Sans.” Her voice is so fucking gentle that Sans nearly breaks with how soft it is.  

He tries to shake his head no, but Undyne is already folding his sweater up to lay just beyond the sash, “She’s right Sans. It’s got to come out. We can’t wait for the drugs to wear off and you to dismiss your magic. It’s just going to keep cutting into you and make you bleed.”

Panic is starting to bubble as Lilith eases him onto the ground, his coccyx settling gently against the sash and staining the crimson material. “Sans, look at me, I’ve got you.” His eyes are wide as Lilith eases him back by his shoulder so that his head is nestled against his hoodie. His breathing picks up as more heat spreads through his bones painfully, and panic hits him hard. Lilith squeezes his shoulder firmly, her face grim but determined, “Sans? Love look at me.”

Wide, terrified eye-lights swing up to look at her, panting and uncertain. What did she just call him?

“I’m not going to hurt you.” She tells him softly as Undyne’s hands fall onto his knees, encouraging them to bend and then holding them open, “Undyne isn’t going to hurt you. It’s going to be uncomfortable, but it won’t hurt.”

Lilith takes his hand and gives it a gentle squeeze while her other hand settled on his ribs; she so focused on his face she doesn’t see his soul.

Slowly she moves her hand down his body so he can track her movements until her palm settles against his entrance and for a moment, she just keeps it there, “I’m going to use my magic to smooth out the rock and compress it. It’s going to feel weird, but it’s not going to hurt. Tell me if it does, and I’ll slow down.”

 She doesn’t touch him in anyway sexual, simply pressing her flat palm against the edge of the rock lodged inside of him before her magic slowly slithers against the rock. His breathing hitches when he feels his magic spread further as Lilith’s magic slowly coats the rock, drenching it in her power. He can feel himself spreading just a little more, and he fights with himself to not grind down into her hand and fails.

He cries out when he presses into her hand, and shame fills him. He was weak, so, so weak. Undyne looks away but Lilith is unflinching, “Do what you need to Sans. Just keep breathing.”

She’s not angry and doesn’t judge him. She’s calm and solid as her magic coats the rock inside; she doesn’t judge him even when his body reacts against his will, and another orgasm rips through him with a cry of pleasure and anguish. Lilith uses it as a distraction and her magic compresses the rock inward, grinding it down, containing any fragments within the pocket of magic that surrounds it. He can hear the rocking giving out, hear it being crushed inside of him, but he can’t find it in him to be disgusted by it.

Sans is panting hard when its finally small enough for Lilith to slip from his body without hurting him, and her words are soothing and soft, “It’s okay Sans, I’ve got you. I got you. Just relax, let go. I’ve got you love. It’s okay.”

She drops what’s left of the rock by Undyne and her hand settles on the bottom of his sternum, “You did great Sans. I’m so proud of you.” Her hand squeezes at his, “This isn’t your fault, but you did so well.”

He’s still hot and painfully aroused, hurting in ways he can’t yet describe to Lilith, but at least the pain from inside has eased. He melts a little with a sigh and allows his eyes to flutter shut. He’s so tired, and he’s on the verge of passing out, when Undyne gasps roughly.

“His soul.” Undyne’s voice is angry and hurting, and when he peels open his eyes, he can see Lilith’s stricken face staring at his pale soul and the crack that is deeply cutting through the crease of the inverted heart. It’s dark and wide, fracturing his soul slightly from the bottom and moving upwards.

She squeezes Sans hand again, and Lilith cups his soul gently as though she’s terrified it will shatter. It’s too light and too cold against her skin, and she presses affection and positive intent into his soul with the gentles of a feather.

He’s broken, Sans realizes distantly, and he can’t help the bubble of crazed laughter that is torn from his chest. It’s loud and disturbing, and Sans knows somewhere that it’s just as broken sounding as he looks. Broken, debased and worthless.

Undyne looks away, glaring darkly to Oliva who is suddenly looking shocked at what she had been capable of.

“Love look at me” His smile sits wrong on his face, a touch hysterical and deranged. _They had broken him. They broke him, he was broken, no one would ever want him now. His value was nothing, he was broken, he was broken, he was dirty, he was broken._  

“Sans. It’s okay.” Lilith said and he laughs at her words, and its distorted, a perverted version of his laughter. _Because he’s broken. Chara won, she did, he’s broken._ His laughter dies off into a sob that rattles his bones and his soul throbs.

Lilith frowns, her own heart feeling like it was being crushed inward in the face of his _hurt_ , Undyne looks anywhere but Sans, not knowing how to cope with someone so damaged. Lilith eases him upwards and against draws him into her arms.

He goes limp at her touch; tears are streaming helplessly down his face and despite the numbness in his soul his body still burns with the arousal of the drugs they had forced into him. Lilith holds him, cradling him against her softly as she murmurs soft words against his skull, “I’ve got you love. I’ve got you.”

His panic and arousal are waring, and Sans just wishes the greyness would take him and he sobs when it never does. Lilith hold him tightly against her chest until Sans gives in, and the darkness wins.

He passes out in her arms, knowing he was safe but not caring if he was or not.

Lilith finally looks to Undyne when the other warriors hand falls to her shoulder, both are silently weeping over their battered friend.  

Undyne’s voice is steady, despite the tears that fall, “I’ll make sure this is set right. Oliva won’t get away with this. She’ll be judged and …. something will happen.”

Lilith nods, and her hand cups Sans’s soul softly, afraid to let it go. Afraid to not supply it with affection and love, afraid he will crumble to dust in her arms if she lets him go. She grits her teeth when she speaks, “See to it that you do.” Blood red eyes glance to Oliva and the drills that are poised to kill. “If you don’t, I will.”

Undyne nods, and anchors herself to Lilith as they both stand guard over Sans.

Lilith holds him softly, and hopes he has the strength to hold on a little while. Things will be okay once they reach the surface, she’ll make sure of it. They’re so close now.

“Hang on Sans.” She whispers softly to him, quiet enough that Undyne can’t hear her. “Please. Hang on Love.” She realizes what she’s been calling him, and it settles the rage building in her soul. Sans needs her more then she need to get even. “I love you.” She whispers with certainty against his skull, but her words are lost to the darkness of unconscious.

From beyond the vale, Chara smirks at the hurt she’s caused. She’s shaken the battle mage and she’s damaged Sans in a new, wonderful way.

She laughs as Lilith’s breathing hitches and she grieves over Sans’s body, and Chara knows the best way to kill the mage will be to go through Sans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans is brutally raped by Olivia with the help from Flowey and Chara. Their goal is to break him, and they succeed when his soul cracks.


	16. Bury the Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is okay. Honestly he is, just ask him. It's everyone else who needs to get with the program.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Readers, 
> 
> whooo boy! That was a rough last chapter right? 
> 
> As predicted, work has been awful his week and my cat is really sick but I actually found time to get some writing done before the work event this weekend. So, hurrah, I can post the next chapter before the weekend. 
> 
> For those who skipped the last chapter, thank you for taking care of yourselves, that's so important. This chapter deals with the fall out of where we left Sans off. There are some spoilers and non-descriptive synopsis of the last chapter under the "*" so you will understand what Sans has been left with. 
> 
> Thank you, 
> 
> *
> 
> In the last chapter Sans was raped with the aid of a 'heat' potion and Oliva messed around with his soul. The emotional hurt and trauma cracked it. He is still dealing with the after affects of the potion. WARNINGS for this chapter, the event of the last chapter is discussed in this one, but it is non-descriptive. There are also themes of unhealthy coping mechanisms, self hatred and low self worth.

Sans felt like he was floating, hot and hurt, pressed into Lilith’s body, eyes half lidded and his mind hazy. He was still painfully hard and horribly slick, his body begging to be touched, begging to be used; he didn’t care if it was for his pleasure or his partners, just so long as someone touched him. Occasionally he would thrust up into the air with a groan, desperate for some kind of contact to release the pressure in his body and would whimper when he was met with no friction.

His soul throbbed painfully, agony pulsing through him in time of his soul. It stung at the crack, the fluid that slicked the surface of his soul burned, and Sans tried to cling to the pain rather than the forced arousal.

Lilith was quiet and still behind Sans, coiled around him like armor, never once touching him in any way remotely sexual. Even when he broke down and begged her too, her words a soft but firm no despite his desperation; his back was pressed into her chest and he sat naked between her bent legs, even cloths were too much too bare right now.

When they left the hidden room in Hotland for the MTT hotel, escorted by Undyne, they had dressed him, waking him from his restless slumber. It had been a slow, painful thing and they quickly found that even Sans’s light, baggy clothing had been far too much. The small amount of friction had been enough to cause pain and arousal, forcing Sans to cum again, sobbing and begging them to stop it from happening. They had soldiered on to the hotel, Lilith’s gentle hands carrying him, protecting his soul while he writhed at the touch from his clothing. He’d cum twice more before they made it safely to the hotel.  

Undyne, bless her fierce little heart, escorted them both to the hotel, using her status as Captain of the Royal Guard to get them a room until Sans could dry out from the drugs they had given him. Undyne had been hesitant to leave but had only to bring Oliva to the Capital for judgment. She had promised to check in on Frisk and call Lilith with an update and had left Sans in Lilith’s care.

Lilith had undressed him slowly, carefully, ignoring how he pressed into her gentle hands and focused on doing her best to not touch his heated bones. She had firmly ignored how he writhed at her touches, ignored his begging, ignored when his body gave in to his release.

She had asked him if he wanted anything, offered to draw him a cool bath, find water or go to Waterfall for Sea Tea but it all seemed awful. The thought of water touching him make him cringe, all that water touching him at once. The thought of eating or drinking made him feel nauseous, and he hated the thought of Lilith leaving. She may not be willing to touch him, but he craved her presence at least.

Panting and hot, he has asked to be held, needing to feel some kind of contact on his bones as the drugs burned through him.

For hours Lilith had held him against her chest, her knees bent so that she could rest her elbows onto them and cupped his soul. Her intent and magic were gentle, full of affection and care, soft as a kitten’s touch against his cracked soul. Sans leaned against her, the back of his skull against her collar bone, his bones slick with sweat and grime, but Lilith didn’t complain once.

Spent magic stained the sheets under them, and Sans was certain he smelt like teenage human who hadn’t showered in days, and still Lilith didn’t complain. She leaned over him, curled up while her hands cupping his soul protectively; Sans was certain that her back muscles must be burning with the strain of holding so still, so _unmoving_ for hours. Her hands must be cramping by now, she didn’t even stretch her fingers to get a moment of relief. Still, she said nothing of her own discomfort, she held him quietly even as he writhed against her.

Sans knew that once this was all over, shame would eat him alive, until then he panted softly in a haze of pleasure.

“Why won’t you just touch me?” it hadn’t been the first time he asked this of her, the begging would probably come next.

Lilith sighed over him, the first outward appearance of her annoyance in hours; she didn’t mean it, she wasn’t really annoyed at him but rather the constant pleading to be touched. It wasn’t his fault, she knew, and beyond the sigh she didn’t say anything else. Still, her voice was soothing when she spoke, “Because I’m not a rapist. You don’t want this Sans, and I’m not going to add to your trauma.” He can feel her body move in a shrug, “Besides, if we have sex, the first time we do isn’t going to be when your vulnerable and drugged.”

He pressed back against her, his eyes slipping shut with a sigh at the small amount of friction, “But you want to.”

He feels Lilith stiffen at his back, (heh), before she relaxes, “What I want doesn’t matter right now.”

Sans smirked, the drugs running rampant in his body, making his mind muddled and desperate, “But you do.” He was so certain he was right; he wasn’t even asking it a question.

Lilith sighed again. She knew she had to say the right things, do the right thing if she was hoping to get Sans through this with any scrap of self-worth. It was better to be honest in cases like this; she had seen cases like this in the war and being honest was always the best route, “I do.” She admitted slowly, “I’m rather…” it was so much harder to admit her feelings _to_ Sans when he could hear her, “I’m rather fond of you.”

“Then do it.” Sans slurs, and he sounds drunk again, and he parts his thighs slightly, “I want you too. You want to. It’ll make us both feel good, find relief. Stars knows I like sex. Used to. I do. I’ve had my fair share of date mates and one-night stands. This’ll be no different.”

He tilted his head up, hot and his eye-lights were blown wide from the drugs, his smile is sitting wrong, vulnerable and twisted, still edging into delirium. Lilith looked back down at him with a worried frown, she fights the urge to drop a kiss on his forehead, she refuses to touch him in any way that could be considered sexual or that could be misinterpreted in any way, “Nope. This is different, you’re drugged.”

He frowns at her, still feeling sick and aroused, “But I’m a slut. It’s what everyone does, everyone fucks me. You can too.” It was true. When he had been young and full of hope, he had sought every form of pleasure he could get his hands on. Anything to stop making the hallow feeling ache in his chest when he thought of how much blood was on his hands.

Lilith shakes her head no, “No Sans. Not now. Not today.”

His smile goes shaky around the edges, “’Cuz I’m a slut? Too dirty for you? Don’t want to touch what Olivia has?” his tone is angry despite his arousal, anger that he had nothing to aim at. Shame that is only starting to build in earnest, and he needs to put distance between himself and everyone else. It won’t hurt if he doesn’t care.   

Lilith’s mouth pulls into a grim line, and her eyes flash angry crimson. Someone made him feel that way, and Lilith’s LV instantly burns at thoughts of Olivia, “No Sans. It has nothing to do with your sex life. I don’t care how many people you’ve fucked, you do you. _But_ , I won’t touch you when you’re not fully in control of yourself.”

Sans looked away, his body burning, and his vision suddenly swam. His voice was so soft, Lilith almost missed it, “Is it cuz I’m broken?” He looked down at his soul and the big ugly crack that went through it, “I mean, why would you want me now?”

One arm went across his shoulders to draw him a little tighter against her chest to hold him softly, “No Sans, it’s not because your broken.” Her voice was so soft, so full of affection it made Sans cringe into himself, not believing her, “You’re hurt, and drugged and doing anything now would make me no better than Oliva. Who hurt you.” She paused, giving in only a little to cuddle with him. Sans sighed into the touch, taking what little contact Lilith was willing to give him.

“Sans, why wouldn’t I want you?” she murmured against his skull, “You’re attractive, your funny, I like you.” He looked back up at her, confused as she continued, “And when your better, we’ll talk. Blue stop signs for now, right? That’s what you said to me when I was hurt.”  Heat still crawled through his bones, and Sans squeezed his eyes shut and nodded. He didn’t trust his voice right now, and his hurt eased only a little. Lilith gave him a little squeeze, and her voice was soft, “I want you Sans. I promise, I do. I’m not lying. When you’re feeling better, and _if_ you want to, I’ll rock your world.”

Sans laughed, it was watery and hurt, “Yeah? You think so. You’re awfully full of yourself. “

The pun is there, but neither go for it. Instead Lilith snorts as Sans leans his forehead against her forearm, leaning into her soft skin. She almost laughs, trying to keep his mind away from his body, “Well, what did you think we did for entertainment during the war?”

Sans snorted, “Like, three hundred years’ worth?” 

Lilith laughed a little bit, “Exactly.”

“So, since your gonna woo me,” he pants hotly, his body still feels sick, “You gonna have like, candles?”

“Oh yeah.” Lilith smiled, still cupping his soul carefully, “And some classic, romantic music. You know go all out.”

“Rose petals on the bed?”

“Yep. It’ll be super romantic.” Lilith tells him gently, everything about her is gentle right now.

Sans tips his head back up at her, his eyes and smile still _wrong_ , “Oh be still my burning soul. How are you single?”

Lilith laughed a little, but it’s hallow, “You’re the only one who’s not afraid of me.”

Sans hums softly, then settles back against Lilith and lets his eyes flutter shut, “Nah. You’re not gonna hurt me. No need to be scared of you. You’re not your LV.”

He’s finally, _finally_ starting to cool down, much to Lilith’s relief. He’s still warm enough, and Lilith wants to keep him talking, “Sans? Why’d you not let me kill her?”

Sans sighs softly, its more peaceful then pained and shrugs, “Cuz your better than that. She’s not worth it, I’m not worth the EXP on your soul.”

Lilith pauses at that, and shakes her head, “Sans, I’m a killer. A proficient one, a violent one. I will kill for you, I’ve killed for less.”

“I know.” He sounds so tired now, so worn out, “But I don’t want you to. I don’t want you to have to kill for me.” His eyes are drooping now and he’s fighting to keep them open, “I don’t want you to be what they all think you are.”

Lilith nuzzled into the top of his skull, and Sans sighs at the contact. He does feel cooler now, like his magic isn’t burning its way out of his body, “But I am what they think I am. I’m dangerous.”

“I know.” Sans’s eyes slip shut completely, “I’m not worth it.”

Sans finally goes limp in her arms, deeply asleep as his limited energy finally gave out and he found relief in sleep. Lilith sighed, wishing for one of Sloan’s sleep draughts, something to help put him under fully, let him get some real sleep.

“You are worth it.” She murmured into his skull, and she wished she could tell him how she felt. Maybe when this was all said and done, maybe then. Maybe when Lilith was sure that he wouldn’t flee if she told him the truth. Sleep draught or no, she was grateful that he slept, putting him away from the pain and the shame of what had been done to him.

Lilith drew on her magic, propping herself up again, still feeling the sickness from the blood loss. The magic soothed the muscles in her back, the ache in her hands, and she settled in. It was still uncomfortable, magic or no, but she had lived off magic for far longer for far less.

Sans was worth being uncomfortable, worth feeling sick and tired from blood loss, it was worth it if it gave him a measure of comfort. If it allowed him to sleep without nightmares or fear.

She snuggled into Sans, cupping his cracked soul gently and she wrapped herself tightly around his abused body like armor. She grimaced at the bruises at his wrists and thighs from where Flowey had gripped him too tightly, but they would heal on their own. It would take time.

His physical wounds would heal in time, the bruising and wounds to his magic would disappear once he was able to dismiss his magic, but the emotional and mental wounds? That was a whole new ball game. 

Wounds like those would take a very long time, and effort on his end. Lilith was going to get him to the surface, come hell or high water, she would get him to the surface. He would get to see the sunrise; he would feel the wind on his face and would have the chance to do whatever his soul desired.

She gentled his soul, her thumbs brushing at either side of the deep crack, and her heart squeezed. She didn’t know how to fix a cracked soul, didn’t know that it was even possible to _crack_ a soul. Yet, here Sans was, broken and hurt, and that crack throbbing painfully in his soul.  

It wasn’t fair. He’d been through enough; he didn’t deserve this. It was fair to think that no one did, but Sans had already suffered enough. He endured the death of his brother again and again, at the hands of something that wore his friend like a horrible suit. He endured the resets ninety-four times, he endured Chara tormenting him in his sleep, he endured torture and the loss of his happiness.

It wasn’t fair.

Lilith pressed him into her chest, settling her chin on the top of his skull; she knew that life was rarely fair, but that was in part why she stood so readily against oppression. On the surface, their Den was known for helping people, for protecting the people in their territory and doing what was right. They were fiercely protective of what they considered theirs, hell she and Felix were homicidally so, but they would do whatever it took to protect their people. 

She took ‘life is not fair’ as a challenge to make it fair. To even the odds and tip the balance the other way.

Cuddling into his body, Lilith held Sans tightly and allowed the hurt sound finally to escape her chest at the sight of his damaged soul. Lilith couldn’t heal but Lola could, and she would help her put Sans back together.

Lilith settled in, determined to protect him, her magic humming through her body to keep her awake to protect Sans.

It was hours later that he groaned and the ecto-flesh from between his legs finally shimmered out of existence. Even in is sleep, Sans sighed in relief and relaxed into her hold further, softening against Lilith.

He was still warm, but not uncomfortably so, and a faint sheen of dry sweat coated his sleek bones. His pelvis was bruised and coated in a dusting of spent magic, and a hot bath would probably do him some good.

Sans’s soul shimmered out of sight as well, returning to his body and he turned in her arms to snuggle into her. Turning them over, Lilith put Sans’s back to the wall so that she was between him and the door so any attack would land on her.

Sans sighed again and snuggled into Lilith’s chest, clinging to her tightly. Her own arm curled around his shoulders to protect him, and Sans sighed into the touch. Lilith let him, awake and silent to protect him, funneling magic into her body.

It was a long night, a restless night once his magic dissipated. Sans would twitch and whimper, clinging to her desperately, so terribly afraid even in sleep. He would jerk and fight invisible hands all the while clinging to Lilith, crying out.

Lilith’s gentle voice soothed him, her hands pet his shoulders gently and she spoke to him softly. Sometimes he would settle quickly, sometimes it took time. Sometimes bones would suddenly spear from the ground, all around them while a cry of anger, and Lilith would hold very, very still all the while softly talking to him.

Lilith stayed by his side all night long, no matter how restless Sans became, no matter the magic he pulled at, Lilith stayed.

As the artificial light of the underground began to filter through the dirty windows of the hotel, Sans winced at the light and slowly opened his eyes. The lights of his eyes were dim and fuzzy with sleep and exhaustion, and his grin was shaky. Lilith smiled back, happy to see that he was starting to look like himself again, although he was unsteady, it was him and not some drug induced haze.

“Heya evil mage.” His voice is rough and shaky, it sounds like his throat is dry and his magic is irritated.

Lilith smiles at him, “Hey love.” A blush blooms over his face, but he still smirks softly, and it makes Lilith’s own soul sing, “How are you feeling?”

Sans shrugs, “Like shit. But I’ll live. It’s not the worst thing that’s happened to me.” He stretches with a wince before he settles back against Lilith, “Though it’s probably a close second.”

Lilith studies him, and it startles her that he’s telling the truth, “Yeah, what’s the worse?”

“Chara made me eat Paps dust once. Broke my teeth and everything. That one fucked me up pretty good.” Sans admitted, “Still. This is a pretty close second.”

“Oh Sans.” She uttered softly, and her face pinched. She knows her words are a mistake when she feels Sans stiffen in her arms.

Sans shook his head, a hot anger lifted from his soul suddenly and sharp. He’s angry at what happened, angry at the world suddenly with nowhere to unload his hurt, and he hisses “Don’t.” he told her angrily, “Don’t feel pity for me. I don’t need it.”  

Lilith holds steady, her hands steady on his shoulder, “I don’t. It’s not pity.”

“Good, I don’t need it.” His anger is rising hotly, and he doesn’t want to feel the shame that’s threatening to bubble over his soul.

“You don’t. Pity won’t do anyone any good.” She agrees passively, and this isn’t the first time she’s dealt with this situation. She had seen this in the war before, from soldiers who had been captured and brutalized.

“Good.” Sans says again, and it takes a moment for him to relax again. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

Lilith nods, and doesn’t point out that he is in fact, not okay. “Do you want a shower? Or water?” she asks instead. She gives him options, lets him feel in control.

Sans looks down, considering before roughly answering, “Water.” 

Lilith nods, and slowly untangles herself from his tight hold and there is a moment of panic when Sans grasps her hand tightly, his eye-lights suddenly bright with dread. Lilith lets him hold her hand while he swallows, getting his breathing under control. She sits on the edge of the bed, waiting for him to loosen his grip and not tearing it away.

Sans gulps down air roughly before he finally releases her, “Sorry.” He mutters, eyes adverted as though ashamed, and he suddenly hates how weak he is. How he couldn’t have protected himself, how he let Chara do this to him. This was his own fucking fault, he should have been faster, smarter, better. He Suddenly can’t breathe, like their something stuck in his throat and his eyes feel itchy. He should have done more, he should have…

He feels Lilith squeeze his hand, and it draws him out of his spiraling thoughts. She holds it until he can take a deep gulp of air, and doesn’t move until he can speak again, “I’m fine.” His voice is rough and full of hurt that he is quickly burying. It doesn’t matter, this isn’t the worse thing, _it’s not._ He’s fine, he’s okay. He’s got a little bit of bruising, and a crack in his soul but he’s fine. All the other damage was dismissed with this magic, he’s totally fine. 

Lilith’s fingers tangled with his and she gave him a gentle squeeze, “S’okay. You okay?” Sans won’t look at her but nods slowly. Lilith nods back at him and slowly releases him to get him water from the bathroom, and she gone for as little time as possible.

He gulps the water roughly, drinking deeply from the cup from the bathroom and a drop of water trickles down his chin. Sans wipes it away carelessly with the back of his hand as he hands Lilith the cup back.

She takes it, rolling it in her hands nervously, “You wanna talk about it?”

Sans shakes his head no, pulling the blanket tighter around himself and cringes when he realizes he’s still naked, “Not even a little bit.” He pauses, and heaves a sigh, “But it sucked. It really, really sucked.”

Lilith nodded back at him softly, “It did.” 

He fiddles with his fingers, pulling the blanket tight against his lower half. He remembers how Lilith had held him, protected him. How she never once touched him, even when he begged her to and he is _so grateful_ , “Thanks. For like. Coming for me and not…” he trails off awkwardly.

Lilith nodded, “Anytime.”

Sans fidgets, and shrugs, “You think. You think you’d still want to. I dunno. Hang out?”

Lilith’s lip curls into a small smile, “Of course Sans.”

He looks down and he smirks, “You still gonna rock my world?”

It makes Lilith laugh, and Sans is still delighted to see that she doesn’t go red and she doesn’t shy away from it, “I told you, rose petals.”  

Sans snorts, shakes his head at her, and it makes him feel better that she isn’t disgusted by him. It settles his soul a little and he knows that Lilith is a rock even when he was disgusted with himself. He glances to his wrist and frowns when he sees his bracelet is missing, and the happy magic that protects him is gone, “I’ve lost…” his voice trails off as his hand grips at his wrist in a clatter of bones.

Lilith’s eyes are drawn to where he grips, and frowns, “It’s okay. Frisk should have a few left, we’ll get them from her, and I’ll give you a new one.”

Sans nods as he leans against her with a sigh and lets his eyes close, taking a moment to feel better. “Could I shower?”  

Lilith nods, “Of course. You need help?” it’s awkward and the mage scratches at her lower arm as instinct _screams_ at her to crawl back into bed and wrap herself around him for several more hours. That her smallest Den mate needed more sleep, needed an extra layer of protection right now, that the monster she had fallen in love with needed her.

Sans shakes his head no and is grateful when Lilith nods at him and turns her back to him. It’s a small amount of privacy despite what she had seen only hours ago, and Sans is stupidly grateful for it. He’s still too weak to short cut, but the sticky feeling of sweat and spent magic is itchy and thick on his bones. He doesn’t want Lilith to see him like this, so used up and gross, and he slips past her and into the bathroom with ease.

He pauses at the mirror with a frown, taking in the dark bags under his eyes, the ugly bruising at his wrists and thighs, and he can’t see how Lilith would want someone like him. Even before what had happened, it wasn’t like he was anything special right? Not like so many other monsters in the underground, why would she want someone like him?

Still, she said she did. Said she wanted him and didn’t think less of him. He reached a bruised hand up to touch his mouth, thinking of her soft lips on his teeth and he wondered if she would still want to kiss him. He hoped so.

She hadn’t held him like he was fragile, she didn’t turn away in disgust like he did himself. She still smiled sweetly at him like he wasn’t broken beyond repair, and he had been telling the truth. This was hardly the worse thing he had ever lived through; he’d be fine.

He buried the hurt that left him bleeding to never be spoken about again deep inside. He’d burn that part of himself later, pretend that it never happened, and he’d be okay. He was fine. _He was._

He ignored how much his soul hurt, he ignored how much he wanted to crawl into Lilith’s arms and let her hold him and ignored the grief that she wouldn’t want him now, the insecurity.

He was fine, and Lilith did want him. She had said so herself. Still, his soul felt like it was drowning, but it was fine. He was fine.

With grim determination, Sans turned away from the mirror and stepped into a too hot shower.

He was fine. _He was._

-

Lilith heard the water start and sighed. She took a moment to bury her face into her hands and sighed with a mixture of anger and hurt. Oliva had done things to Sans, had done horrible thing to him and he was brushing if off like it didn’t matter. He was compartmentalizing again, Lilith had seen him do it for every hurt, every blow he took.

It wasn’t healthy, but it was only for a little longer. They only had to make it to the surface, and they were so close.

There was a knock at the hotel door, and Lilith groaned into her hands with annoyance before she dragged herself up to the door.

Magic filled her, sparking hotly between her fingers as she yanked the door open with more anger then fully necessary. Her cold face was pinched into irritation that only softened when it was Undyne looking grim and Papyrus who had pulled in on himself, looking upset.

Lilith sagged slightly, her shoulders drooping at the sight of her friends, _of her Den_ her instinct whispered, and her knees almost gave out. Her lip trembled for a brief moment before her teeth sunk into her lower lip and her eyes hardened.

 She was a fucking battle mage, she was the one who grit her teeth, who protected her Den and Coven. She didn’t buckle.

Yet, seeing Undyne and Papyrus, Lilith softened just slightly.

She took a slow, deep breath and licked her dry lips, “Hey.” She told them softly.

Undyne gave her a wobbly smile and Papyrus pulled tighter into himself, looking hurt and upset. Undyne’s mouth opened to say something before Papyrus’s large frame threw himself at Lilith’s smaller one and clung on for all his worth with a broken sound.

Undyne sighed as Lilith’s arms wrapped around him tightly, her magic flaring hotly in the face of a threat; her eyes scan the area the area beyond the door, looking for any threat.

“Come on Paps. Let’s get inside.” She muttered against his skull quietly, stepping backwards to drag him inside. Undyne huffed a sigh and followed her inside, looking angry and grim, kicking the door shut behind her.

“Where’s ah. Where’s Sans?” Undyne asked, eyes turned down, hands clenching and unclenching at her sides.

“Shower.” Lilith said softly as she eased Papyrus onto the bed, one arm still tight over his shoulders as Lilith pulled him to her chest.

Undyne nodded, adverting her eye with a huff, “Good. That’s. That’s good.”

Lilith glanced to Papyrus, who was sobbing softly into her chest, then back to Undyne, who refused to look at her. Something was wrong, and unease filled her, “Has something happened?”

Papyrus sniffled softly from her chest, and Lilith was unable to stop herself from wiping away the orange tears that fell silently.

Undyne sighed, “Oliva contacted her kid once we got her to the Capital.” The large monster said quietly, unusually quietly.

Something like lead dropped into her gut, and dread twisted inside, “Whose her kid?”

Undyne’s voice was unusually shaky, “Bobby.” Lilith grit her teeth, anger flashing through her at the name of the rabbit. Of course, his mother was the shitty Olivia. Undyne continued in an uncertain voice “Oliva told Bobby what happened. Her version of events. What she’s being charged with, who she hurt.”

The sound of water turned off, and Lilith crushed Papyrus to her chest, pleading with Sans to stay in the bathroom a little while longer.

“Oliva states that it was consensual. That Sans agreed to it.” Undyne says softly.

Rage hits Lilith next. It floods her eyes black and she puffs up in aggression and bares her teeth, “Bull shit! I saw what happened. I saw what they did to him. Nothing about that was consensual!”

“Lilith.” Undyne’s voice is small and rough, and she tries to sound so fucking reasonable.

“He was fucking drugged!” magic crackles at her fingers and around her. It surrounds Papyrus like a set of armor, surround him with protective rage and violent intent against those who would dare harm him.

“Chill evil mage.” Everyone flinches at Sans’s voice. It’s low and rough, weak, “You’re upsetting Paps.”

Lilith licks her teeth, slow and careful, a self-soothing habit. Suddenly Sans is too far away, too far out of reach and out of her protection range. Instinct screamed at her to rectify that, to pull him to her side so she could protect him.

Instead, Lilith buried her rage, buried deep under a layer of cold control and the dark rage receded from her eyes. Papyrus’s terribly sad face looked up to his brother, and he clung to Lilith a little tighter; Sans looked awful. The shower had done some good, sure, but he still looked tired. There were dark bags under his eyes, his bones seemed pale with the brutal loss of magic and a forced state of being in a heat. His shoulders sagged lower than normal, and he looked like a strong breeze would knock him over.

His eyes though, his eyes told of how deeply the shame and hurt ran. His eye-lights were dim and hazy around the edges, having lost their healthy sheen.

“Sans?” Papyrus’s voice was small and hurt, and he was unsure if he should reach out or let his brother have his space. Instead he clung to the mage, feeling her magic crackle around them.

Sans sighed, turning his dim eyes to Undyne, “So. Bobby thinks I’m a liar then?”

Undyne crossed her arms with a huff, and she looked away, “Yeah. Seems to think that it wasn’t possible for the Judge to…” she stopped and cleared her throat.

Sans smirked at her hesitation, and his voice is cold, his words brutal, “What? That the Judge can’t be raped?”

Papyrus flinches in Lilith’s arms, and looks desperate to reach out. Hell, Lilith wants to reach out, but they keep their arms firmly around each other.

“Something like that.” Undyne mutters. “They seem to think that your LV is too high to allow you to be in that situation. That. It’s not possible.”      

Lilith snarled from the bed, her anger flashing briefly, and she was ignored. Sans was bitter and his own anger was starting to bubble, “’Couse it is.”

Undyne licks her teeth, and they can feel his deep well of magic. Undyne chooses her next words carefully, “Bobby has been going from the Capital to the Ruins telling anyone who’ll listen that his mom would never do that. That as the Judge and with your LV, it couldn’t have happened the way we’re saying it did.”

Undyne looked down, ashamed at Sans’s bitter face. He crosses his arms, defensively and leaned against the bathroom door jam, “And let me guess? Lil ol’ Bobby is gaining steam?”

Undyne slowly nodded, still not looking at him, “Yeah. Lots of people are saying you’re lying.” She said quietly.

“I fucking saw!” Lilith snarled angrily, unable to stop herself, “I fucking saw what happened!”

Undyne held up her hand as though to stall the mage and her rage, “I know. I saw too. I just. There will be an investigation. Asgore will look into it.”

Lilith and Sans snorted in tantum, looking annoyed and bitter. It was Sans who spoke, angry and hurting, and so bitterly ashamed, “Yeah ‘Dyne. I’m sure he will.”

Undyne turned her glowering yellow eye onto him, but Sans didn’t flinch. He continued to glare tiredly at her, dim and diminished, “This won’t stand Sans.” Undyne said slowly, angrily.     

Sans rolled his eyes, “Sure it won’t.”

He was feeling hostile and angry, with nowhere to properly aim it at. He opened his mouth to sass a little more at the Captain of the Royal Guard, when Papyrus’s watery voice broke through his haze of pain, “Brother?”

His brother’s broken, watery voice was enough to stall Sans’s anger, and he softened. “I’m fine bro. It wasn’t so bad.”

Papyrus slowly untangled himself from Lilith to quickly cross the room to his brother; dropping to his knees, Papyrus wrapped his arms around Sans and squeezed him. Sans flinched and braced for pain, hating himself that he expected that from Papyrus and couldn’t relax at his brother’s touch.

“You are not okay.” Papyrus’s voice is surprisingly fierce despite how hurt he is, “She did something horrible to you brother, and we will not let her get away with it.”

Sans freezes at Papyrus’s words, swallowing hard, “You believe me?”

“Of course, brother.” And there is so much conviction in Papyrus’s voice, that Sans believes him. Believes in his brother so much, so thoroughly, that he feels guilty when he thinks he ever doubted him, “Of course I believe you. I would always believe you.” Papyrus squeezes Sans a little tighter, and says, “This wasn’t your fault Sans.”  

Of all the things that Sans needed to hear, he didn’t know he needed to hear his brother tell him that it wasn’t his fault the most.

It breaks what little resolve Sans has managed to rebuild, and he gives a watery chuckle. He feels like a yo-yo with the way his emotions have been going, but really this isn’t the worse timeline. This is hardly the worse thing to happen to him.  He tries hard to convince himself that is the truth.

Slowly he wraps his arms around Papyrus’s shoulders, and he snuggles in, “Thanks Papyrus.” He mutters. “But I’m okay.” It’s not anywhere close to the truth, its’ not. Really, all Sans wants to do it curl up in a puppy pile with the mage and his brother for a while.

Yet, he’s the Judge, he isn’t supposed to need anyone. He’s Sans, nothing is supposed to hurt him.

Papyrus sighs over his shoulder, and for a moment Sans thinks he’s going to let him get away with his usual bull shit. Instead, Papyrus pulls back with a frown and wipes at his wet face with the back of his hand, soaking his glove, “Brother, I believe Undyne when she says what happened to you. I believe _you_ when you say it happened. I don’t, for a second, believe you when you say you’re alright.” Papyrus’s eye lights glance away nervously, and Sans feels his soul sink, “They did something horrible to you. No one can walk away from that being okay.”

Sans looks down, his chest suddenly feels tight and his throat feels thick. For a second he thinks he can’t breathe, but he shoves it all down hard and hopes that the grey feeling will come and make everything numb.

It doesn’t, so he does the next best thing. Sans plasters on a crooked grin and shoves the hurt and the pain into a box to throw away later.

“Papyrus,” it’s said with so much conviction, that for a moment Sans almost believes it, “I’m fine.” His smirk feels wrong, it sits wrong on his face, “No _bones_ about it.”

No one smirks or huffs at him, and Sans wish they would. Wishes they would go along with the lie that everything was fine. Turning to Undyne, Sans ignores the worry on Lilith’s face and the hurt on his brothers, “’Dyne, where ‘s the kid?”

Undyne shifts uncomfortably, her yellow eye glancing away, “Sans. Maybe you should leave the kid to me. Let Paps and Lilith take you home.”

The mage pushes herself to her feet and nods, “Yeah. Let’s go back to Snowdin and get some rest.”

Sans can see the confliction on her face, how she’s torn between going for her sister and taking him home. Having to choose between one Den mate over another, between him and her little sister.

He made her make that choice once, he won’t do it again, “I’m fine. Slept like the _dead_.” He manages to harden his voice, somehow puts enough conviction into his voice to leave room for no arguments, “Undyne, where’s the kid?”

In that moment he’s the Judge and Undyne shifts uncomfortably. “She’s on her way to Asgore.”

Lilith hisses, her eyes widen and that seals if for Sans. She did enough for him, he could do this for her, “Great, let’s get going then.”

Biting her lip, Lilith makes one more try to convince Sans to let them take him home, “Sans, maybe Undyne’s right. Maybe we should go home.”

Her voice is stead as it always is, but her usually cold eyes give her away; the crimson of her magic is overly bright with her worry and fear. She knows what will happen to Frisk if she faces off against Asgore. She knows that her baby sister will die.

Sans let it happen too many times before. ~~Over ninety-three times to be exact.~~ He doesn’t want to let it happen again.

Shaking his head, Sans is firm in his answer, “Let’s get the kid. If anyone can get us to the surface, it’s Frisk.” With that, Sans turns for the door, calling over his shoulder, “If you’re coming, you’d better hurry hard.”

They watched him leave, and Papyrus sighed as he stood up, “He…he’s not okay.”

Lilith shook her head and took Papyrus’s hand when his eyes began to water. She gives his hand a gentle squeeze and shook her head, “Not even a little bit.”

Undyne glared after him before she heaved a sigh, “Come on. Let’s go make sure he doesn’t get hurt.”  

Lilith and Papyrus share one last worried look before they follow Sans and Undyne, and back into Hotland.


	17. Everybody knows. The Good Guys Lost.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite the pain that Sans is in, they need to keep moving. For better or worse, the world keeps turning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya readers! 
> 
> Sorry for the length of time between the last chapter and this one, I was away on a work trip and didn't have time to edit or write. I'm heading to a con this weekend so I will do my best to respond to comments here, but it maybe as late as Monday before I get the chance. I'm posting this one before I've finished chapter 20 since I don't want to leave you all hanging. 
> 
> Sans and Lilith are still coping with what happened in chapter 15, but it's only mentioned in a super vague sense before everything goes sideways. :)

The walk to the Castle was a short and tense one.

Undyne silently lead the way, tall and in charge, her gleaming yellow eye glaring to keep the other guards away.

Sans was behind her, face neutral but his eye lights were dim and distant. He followed behind Undyne silently and barley aware. He stumbled often, tripping over his feet or his knees giving out from exhaustion and stress. Lilith and Papyrus, who walked at his pace on either side of him, would reach out to slow his fall or to help him up.

Each time he would scowl at their assistance and weakly tell them he was fine.

The fifth time it happened, Lilith and Papyrus shared a worried look as Sans shrugged off their careful hands and muttered that he was fine.

Worry build up in Lilith’s gut, and she hated that she didn’t know how to help him, how to ease his hurt. He should be going home, that’s what he should be doing. Going home to rest and recovery, give his soul a chance to heal.

“Sans, are you sure you’re okay?” Lilith asked lightly, she didn’t want him to feel like she was doubting him, but she knew he needed something. He needed to be kept safe and have a chance to heal.

Huffing an annoyed sigh, Sans gave her an annoyed nod, “I’m fine.” He wasn’t, not even close. He was angry and hurt and had nowhere to direct that anger. He wants to go back, back to that happy moment when Lilith held him like he was special and kissed him.

Pulling his sweater tighter against his body, Sans tried not to feel dirty. Tried not to hate himself, but it was hard when he blamed himself for everything that happened. If only he had been a little stronger, a little faster. He tried to bury the feeling, felt angry that the grey numb feeling never came to take his soul.

His chest pulsed painfully, his cracked soul throbbing within his body and he feel so, so tired. He can barely stay on his feet, and he feels sick. He feels filthy and he tries not to think about the feeling of Oliva’s hands on his bones. He tries not to think how Lilith won’t want to touch him now, how he had been so happy for such a short amount of time.

How would Lilith want him now?

He swallows thickly when she looks at him with worry, and he flinches when she reaches out. Her hand quickly falls to her side and her fist balls, “If you’re sure?” she sounds hesitant, so uncertain.

He nods, and he hunches his shoulders up. He doesn’t know what he wants, but he knows he doesn’t feel strong. He doesn’t feel like Asgore’s Judge.

He feels weak and hurt. He feels taken advantage of, and he hates himself.

Lilith glances down and see him crumbling, sees him falling apart on the inside and something inside her breaks. Instinct is screaming at her to curl around him and protect him at the centre of their Den until he feels better.

She can’t, not right now. She’d been a prisoner of war at one point, had orchestrated her own escape and had killed a lot of people in order to gain her freedom, gaining two levels of LV in her desperate bid for freedom. Yet, she remembers what had been done to her, she remembers how shocked and angry she had been when she returned home, returned to her family. She remembers coming home at no older than twenty-four, changed and full of fury. Vicious in a way she hadn’t been before. She remembers craving choice, and she remembers the relief when Sloan _asked_ to cuddle with her. The relief when Ryder _asked_ to hold her hand and when Felix _asked_ to snuggle with her. She remembers the relief when Lola _asked_ to sleep in her bed with her.

Choice became the most important thing.

“Sans?” he looked up at his name, lost and scared, “Can I hold your hand?”

Surprise flickered through his features before that lost, vulnerable look came back. He nodded slowly, and he reached up to take her hand. Lilith let him take it, her fingers wrapping around his skeletal hand and gave him a squeeze.

“Thanks.” His voice is small, but he squeezes her hand tightly, “You don’t have to though.”

Lilith nods, and doesn’t let go, “Yeah I know. I want to.”

Sans snorts, “Yeah? Why’s that? Was surprised that you’d want to touch be at all.”

Lilith looked at him, frowning, but she gets it. She does, “Because I like you Sans. That hasn’t. That hasn’t changed.” She shifts her grip so that their fingers are linked tightly, “I get it.”

Sans snorts, looking down, “Yeah?” he sounds bitter and angry, “How?”

There’s hesitation, and Lilith sighs. Everyone knows the story; most remember her retribution. Most remember the blood shed she left in her wake in her escape. Better to hear it from her, “I was a POW once. Caught behind enemy lines on my own, got caught to save my unit. I was a kid, twenty-four. Thought I was bullet proof.” Her smirk twisted across her face, only to soften when she looked at Sans. “I wasn’t vicious like I am now. I didn’t know how to use my vice, I didn’t know how to tap into my anger. They had me for little over three weeks. And well…” she shrugged.

Sans’s brow furrowed, and the kindling of anger flashes through his aching soul, “They hurt you?”

Lilith smiles bitterly at him, and the scars in her ribs itch suddenly, “Yeah. They did. But I got mine, I got to go home. I got into therapy; I grew stronger, went back to the front cruel.” She gave him a rueful smirk, “Left a bloody trail on my way out.”

Sans hesitated, holding her hand tightly, “They hurt you like I was?”

Her smirk fell, and she squeezed his hand, “Yeah. But that just means that I know you’re going to be okay Sans.”

Looking up at her, Sans’s smile is brittle, “Thanks evil mage.”

“Any time Love.” Sans smiles at the pet name and feels ever so slightly better.

-

Papyrus fiddled with his hands as they came to the Castle, slipping through Asgore’s home silently, Undyne taking them through the side’s halls and secret passages until they were crossing through a golden hallway. He’s nervous, but at least Sans is looking a little better and he’s glad that Lilith is here with them.

He knows that Sans is a long way to being okay, that Lilith was right that he needed to rest, but neither of them had the heart to deny Sans anything right now. At least he was letting Lilith hold his hand, give even a small comfort, and for that Papyrus was grateful.

Looking around suddenly, Papyrus frowns. He doesn’t know what it is, but something feels off. Like someone has moved all the furniture in the room just slightly to the left, you can’t put your finger on it, but you know it’s wrong.

The sounds of their footsteps echoed hollowly in the long, wide hallway, Sans suddenly frowns, numbly looking at the floor, barley flinching at the sight of the bright floor and the memories it brought up. How many times had he and Chara fought? How many times had had he killed Frisk here?

Sans squeezed Lilith’s hand, feeling slightly better when she squeezed back, ignoring the churning in his soul, when Lilith suddenly froze.

The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and her instinct suddenly screamed at her to put her armor on. She could taste violence in the air, a coming fight. The tension of a fight that was brewing, and about to snap.

She suddenly pulled Sans towards her, grabbing the back of his hoodie to pull him against her, “Wait.” Her voice was suddenly cold, and magic crackled at her fingers.

The monsters all stop, turn towards her and Sans looks up. He can feel Lilith’s unease, the sudden tension in her body, “What wrong?”

Lilith eyes scan the area slowly, carefully, “Somethings wrong.”

Undyne rolled her eye with a huff, putting her hands on her hips, “This is the palace. This is the most heavily guarded part of the underground, there’s nothing dangerous here.” Undyne looked down and shifted, “Well, besides Asgore.”

Sans leaned into Lilith and Papyrus took a step towards her, her hand on Sans tightening as the tang of violence hung thick in the air. The skeletons knew that if the mage sensed something, then there was something to be worried about.

“No. Something’s not right.” She looked around suddenly nervous, and magic began to gather.

Undyne rolled her eye again at them, “It’s fine. Besides, what could go wrong?”

Lilith flinched, something went wrong the moment anyone said that, and Sans glowered, “Gee ‘Dyne. Don’t know what could wrong.”

She opened her mouth to sass back when the door at their backs suddenly slammed open, making them all jump; Lilith suddenly tracing in front of the skeletal monsters, ready to take on any advisory who dare harm them, the magic of her armor suddenly snapping around her body, blades in her hands.

Her eyes were cold and cruel, mouth pulled into a hard line of anger which quickly melted into confusion at the sight of a small, yellow lizard monster. Black eyes blinked up at Lilith from behind thick glasses, and she took a step back into a tall, pretty robot, terror contorted her usually soft features.

 _Alphys and Mettaton_ Frisk’s memories whispered, and Lilith huffed, slumping as she dismissed her blades.

Undyne snarled and stalked up to the two new monsters, cuffing Lilith upside the head, “See mage? It’s Al and Mettaton.” 

Lilith snarled, elbowing Undyne in the ribs, “Don’t be a jerk.”

Giving the mage a shark like smile, she moved to stand with Alphys and Mettaton, suddenly looking nervous, “So this nerd is Alphys, and her punk Mettaron.” Her head tilted towards Lilith, “This is Lilith, she’s a mage but she’s alright.” 

“I…I ah. Yes! I. I saw her on the cameras. She….she’s Frisk’s sister, r-ri-right?” Alphys shifted nervously, looking uncertain. “Frisk t-talks about you a-a lot.”

Lilith nodded, still distracted by the wrongness of the situation, “Yeah. Thanks for…helping her.”

A bright blush colored her face, and Alphys looked away, “I…I didn’t. I didn’t do anything.” Grief crossed her face, “In fact…I…I. I betrayed her.” Behind her, Mettaton’s face pulled into worry as he glanced down at his friend.

Lilith opened her mouth, memories of Alphys being Frisk’s friend bubbled when Sans cut her off, “Al. How are you guys here?”

The feeling of wrongness was starting to build in Sans as well, his worried eye-lights glancing around as Lilith had. They weren’t supposed to be here yet, none of them were supposed to be here yet.

Alphys looked surprised suddenly, not quite as nervous as she had been, “Asgore called me. Said that th-there was something wrong. T-told me to bring Mettaton.”

The robot at her back flicked his long, black hair back and he grinned at Lilith and even she could appreciate how _pretty_ Mettaton was in person. “Alphys darling charged me up for the big event.” His purple eyes flickered over to Lilith with a smirk, “Our darling Frisk didn’t say that her sister was so fetching.”

Lilith gave him a flat look, while Sans glared and Undyne suddenly laughed, her hand thumping heavily on Mettaton’s shoulder, “Oh ‘Ton. You are so barking up the wrong tree. The mage is into _bones_ if you get my drift.” 

Going dark blue, Sans glared at them, his face pulling into annoyance as Mettaton glanced between them. His face pulled into an ‘O’ of surprise, and Sans shifted nervously with embarrassment. Great, now the mage was going to have to reject him… right?

“Yeah, so what if I am?” she all but challenged, much to Sans’s surprise and Undyne’s delight.

She chuckled, arms crossed as she smirked at Sans, “Thought so. Had a feeling that the mage…”

The ground under their feet rumbled, the walls of the palace trembled, and everyone froze. Sans grabbed at Lilith’s shirt and his brothers’ hand, readying to shortcut if he needed to. Undyne grabbed at Alphys suddenly as the world around them shook.

Grabbing Undyne’s wrist, Alphys looked around nervously, her eyes comically wide, “Is…is it a cave in?”

Shaking her head no, Undyne linked their fingers, “No. It’s too consistent. Too constant.”

Sans looked down, his fingers tightening around the two people who he cared about the most, “It’s under our feet. Something’s burrowing.”

There’s another tense moment when the vibrating gets worse, growing in intensity when the stone beneath their feet begins to crack. The cracks are long, the length of the golden hallway and Sans is short cutting Lilith and Papyrus out of the way and pressing them to the sides of the hallway as something begins to tare through the stone.

Alphys is in Undyne’s arms as the warrior darts to the other side of the hall, dragging Mettaton behind her to flatten themselves against the other side.

Undyne’s eye is wide and shocked as something thick and green raises from the floor, shaking the stones away, “What the hell is that!” she yells over the sound of breaking stone and the vine raises from the floor.

“It’s Flowey!” Lilith yells back, her hand tight at Sans’s shoulder.

Rage and confusion war on Undyne’s face when she yells back, “Who the fuck is Flowey.”

“A fucking shitty flower.” Lilith yelled back, glaring at the vine as it coiled near the door, the wall shaking as something was coming through.

“A shitty monster who helped Oliva.” Sans clarified, burying his pain and hurt under a layer of anger.

The wall by the door cracked and gave as Flowey came through it; he was massive and warped. Vines wrapped around claws dragged him into the hall, his head getting stuck briefly before the wall gave out. The fleshly color of his mouth snapped wetly at them, and Lilith dragged Sans and Papyrus back from the creature.

The rest of his head came through, a massive screen with a bitter, greasy smile, flickered down at them and Undyne back up as well, shoving Alphys behind her.

Thick, coiling tubes popped through the wall, thick and oily with extra eyeballs blinking slowly at the monsters below. Vines snapped around them, and slowly Undyne summoned a spear while Lilith reached for a sword.

“He’s too small.” Sans hissed at Lilith’s back as she forced them to back up further, toward the entrance to the golden hallway, “Something’s wrong.”

“How is that fucking small Sans!’ Undyne hissed at them as they came together near the door.

“It is!” he hissed back, angry and panicked. Something was off. Something was _wrong_.

Flowey laughed darkly as he pooled into the hall, “What’s wrong smiley trash bag? Didn’t get enough with Oliva?” he mocked and coiled within his vines, were four of the human souls, Perseverance and Justice were missing.  

Rage flickered and Sans jerked forward, being caught by Lilith to hold him back, “Fuck you! I’m going to end you!”

Lilith didn’t let him go, but her face pulled into cold determination, “I’ll make sure it happens.”

Undyne sneered, “Oh yeah! Now that’s some passion I can get on board with.” She shoved Alphys behind her, her spear elongating to hold in both hands.

Papyrus stepped up, left eye enveloped in orange magic, a bright bone in hand shimmered with bright magic. He shifted nervously before he squared up and stood shoulder to shoulder with Lilith and Undyne.

The TV that made up Flowey’s head tilted, “Daww. That’s cute.” And he pulled Frisk, MK and Asgore into the hall, all three of them coiled tightly with vines. The vines squeezed and hurt, and there were tears running down Frisk and MK’s young faces.

Asgore’s was pulled into pain and anguish even as he fought and struggled.

Everyone froze, the shock contorting into horror as they called out their friend’s names.

 “Frisk!” Lilith and Sans cried out in anger.

“Monster Kid!” Papyrus called, suddenly choked with worry.

“Asgore!” Undyne shouted, panic shaking her.

Flowey laughed at their anguish, lifting a thick vine so that Oliva could walk under it, her smug smile echoing horrors she had committed back at them. Sans snarled, the Gaster blaster he wanted to summon was only paused at the thought of harming the kids.  

Hands clenched angrily, Sans muttered “Fuck” under his breath, blue and gold enveloping his left eye in magic when he saw the fluttering purple soul of Perseverance in her hands; he ignored the strain in his soul when he reached for his magic. He ignored the pain and exhaustion that nearly drove him to his knees.

Oliva smirked, her grin bitter and cruel, and she handed the soul to seemingly nothing, “Here dear. As promised.”

The glass suddenly cracked, Flowey laughing over them as they all stared helplessly as it shattered, and the soul fluttered in panic.

For a moment Sans mourned at the sight, remember the little boy he had taken the soul from. A smart, gentle child who hadn’t deserved to fall. Hadn’t deserved to…

Sans pushed the thought away, focusing on the child he could save, focused on Frisk and how terrified she looked. He could save Frisk.

The purple soul flickered and disappeared in a haze of blue and red magic as _something_ surrounded it.

Lilith’s mouth fell open in shock even as Sans took a step back as Chara’s body began to materialize into something real. He could feel his stolen magic and Lilith’s magic as they surrounded the soul that flickered as though in pain before it was hidden behind Chara’s smirking face.

She looked broken, falling apart as hate and magic fell in thick globs to splatter onto the ground.

Suddenly, the horror of what Flowey had become wasn’t so terrifying in the face of what Chara had done.

“What the fuck is that?” Undyne asked roughly, taking another step _back_.

“How?” Sans asked quietly, his voice almost broken and frightened. Lilith reached for him, grasping his hand to hold him tightly.

Melting, barley held together hands reached up to touch her face and Chara sighed happily, “You left so much magic around the underground Lilith. Soooo much to start to absorb, to create a new body.” Dead, hate-dripping eyes lifted and Chara smiled cruelly at them. “And all that magic that Sans expelled when Oliva had him.” She lifted a shoulder in a shrug, “I have all I need to create something new. And with a soul, I finally have a brand-new body.”  

“IT’S FALLING APART.” Papyrus said suddenly, even as he drew everyone’s shocked face, “DID YOU KNOW THAT?”

Chara smirked, her head tilting and a gob of spoiled magic splatted onto the ground as though to punctuate Papyrus’s point, “Your brother cried when Oliva fucked him.” Sans freezes at her words, his soul going cold, “Did you know that?”   

There’s a moment Papyrus just stares at her, shocked as though she has just struck him before his eyes narrow and Papyrus _snarls_ in rage. His grip on his bone club tightens, and Papyrus takes a step forward, driven on by rage and hurt.

Sans is shocked to see the reaction from his brother, but in the end, they love each other and would do anything to protect each other. In the face of overwhelming cruelty, even Papyrus would resort to violence to save the people he loves.

Lilith is in front of Papyrus instantly, both hands on his chest, digging in her heels to slow him, “Wait, wait, wait. Hang on their Paps.”

“But! She! They!” anger, pain and confusion war on Papyrus’s face even as Oliva, Flowey and Chara laugh at their back.

Lifting a hand to Papyrus’s face, Lilith brushes away the angry tears that are beginning to gather, “I know.” Her voice is unusually soft despite the ice in her eyes, “I know, but she’s baiting you. We need to be smart about this, we can’t go running in blindly. That’s how you get killed.”

Stricken, Papyrus nodded. He was still breathing too hard, his fists clenched too tightly but he stayed where he was.

“You have a plan mage?” Undyne asked quietly, still staring at what Flowey had become.

“Yeah. I’ve got an idea. Look, I’ll distract Flowey, keep him busy. Undyne, when you see an opening, get the kids. Sans, use blue magic to get them to Papyrus. Paps, get the kids out of here. Get them to Snowdin, then get the Queen.”

Papyrus shook his head no, looking determined, “No, I’m not leaving.”

“ _Papyrus_.” Lilith snaps his name, making him flinch and his jaw snap shut. She softens her voice, but her eyes are hard. “I need someone I can trust to take the kids.”

Slumping, Papyrus nods.

“I can help too Darling.” Mettaton speaks up, straightening under her gaze.

Lilith nods, “Good. We get the souls to you. Then you, Alphys and Undyne split. I’ll get Asgore and we regroup at Snowdin.”

Undyne glanced at Asgore and sighed, “I don’t like it, but okay.”

Lilith nodded, “Good. Ready?”

Everyone nodded, and Sans reached out to grab her wrist before she left. Lilith turned back to him, and he gave her a worried grin, “Be careful evil mage.”

Her smile flickered back at him, “You too love. Once we have the souls, go with Mettaton and get out of here. I’ll be right behind you.”

He nodded, worry churning his soul as a bad feeling began to bubble from his chest as he let her go.

Lilith turned, her face going cold as she stepped forward, “Give me the kids.”

Flowey laughed and Chara smirked. “Why would we do that?” Chara asked, smug and cruel.

Lilith smiled back before launching two blades at Flowey’s face; they imbedded into the centre of the screen, all the way to the hilt. Lilith’s helmet snapped into place as she charged as Flowey screamed in pain and rage.

Vines lifted to attack, and Lilith summoned blades to cut her way through them leaving a bloody, messy dust covered trail in her wake. He shot lasers at her, and Lilith traced away from them, reappearing near one of the snapping, pink colored jaws.

Lilith spun back into existence from the trace, high above the jaw, coming down hard with her blade in hand. The magic sliced through the pinky flesh, severing a large portion of Flowey’s jaw. It dissolved into dust as Flowey screamed again, and Lilith traced away from the flailing vines.

Seeing her change, Undyne summoned spears, along the hallway and the blue magic shot up from the ground, severing the vines that held Frisk and MK.

They fell and flailed, screaming for help before Sans caught them with a merry ting as their souls went blue. He flung them to Papyrus with ease, even as his knees went weak with the use of magic and his soul protested, “Go Papyrus!” he yelled as his brother caught the two children.

No one had time to feel anything, no time to process what was happening, but in that one moment Papyrus stared at his brother with worry and squeezed the two children to his chest.

“Brother…”

“I’m fine Paps, go! Get the kids to Snowdin.” Sans ordered, his cracked soul burning in his chest from the use of magic. “I’m right behind you.”

Papyrus hesitated only a moment longer before he turned tail and ran. Frisk struggled, reaching out for him before they disappeared around the corner and out of the hallway.

Relief filled Sans, the kid and his brother were safe. All they had to do was stop Flowey, kill Chara and deal with Oliva.

Snorting to himself, Sans turned just in time to see Undyne join Lilith in battle, with a maniacal laugh.  For a moment, Sans allowed himself to hope that this just might work. Lilith and Undyne knew how to fight, and they joined battle with each other seamlessly. As though they had been fighting side by side for years.   

“Lilith, need a boost!” Undyne yelled at her, as blue spears shot up from the ground all around them and blood red magic began to fan out from Lilith.

The mage spun, crossed her arms over her chest and a gravity disk materialized as she took a knee. With a raunchy laugh, Undyne charged at Lilith at a full tilt run; stepping up on to the gravity disk as though it was a steppingstone, Lilith shoved upwards the same time Undyne stood to her full height and Lilith poured magic into the disk. Gravity shifted, and suddenly Undyne sprung up into the air, getting a better vantage point on Flowey.

With a laugh, Undyne summoned spears that tore through Flowey’s vine, and the Integrity soul and the Justice soul fell; Lilith summoned another gravity disk as Undyne fell back toward the ground and she was able to use it to hurl herself back into the fray.

Sans caught the two souls, his own burning as he overused his magic and pain took him to his knees. Still, he tossed the two souls to Mettaton who caught them easily.

“S-sans! A-are you alright?” Alphys cried out, looking torn between reaching out and staying behind Mettaton.

Gasping, Sans nodded as he clutched at his chest, “Fine.” His vision swam and black spots floated in his sight.

Blood red magic suddenly shot up from the ground, long thin drills tearing through the core of Flowey’s body. Blood and dust gushed from the wounds, and still Lilith sent more through his body.

Sans smiled through his haze of pain, thinking _that’a girl._

Chara sighed in annoyance as Flowey screamed, rolling her dead eyes that bled hatred, “Flowey, absorb the last two souls.” The _duh_ was unspoken but heard.

Flowey hissed down at the dead mage as Undyne and Lilith tore through vines, fought their way through summoned flies and dodged attacks. Chara glared at the warriors, “I’ll take care of the mage.”

Flowey cackled as he crushed the canasters that held the Kindness and Patience souls, and he sighed in relief as he absorbed the fluttering magic, his wounds healing nearly instantly.

Lilith and Undyne snarled as Flowey nearly doubled in size, and Sans gasped. Fear squeezed at his soul and his soul throbbed. Guilt bubbled but he shoved it down, “Al, I think it’s time you and Mettaton make like a tree.” He said slowly, wincing slightly as he watched Flowey gorge himself on magic.

Alphys nodded, backing up, “Y-yeah. S-sans you should come back with-“ Sans spun around as she screamed, helpless claws digging into the ground as Flowey dragged her towards them.

Sans gasped as Undyne screamed for Alphys, helpless as the vines surrounded her. Lilith shot after her, fast and tracing after Alphys with a determination that only a human could have.

Sans didn’t think, he summoned a Gaster blaster even as his soul erupted in fire and agony at using so much magic when he was so hurt. He shouldn’t be using this kind of magic when his soul was cracked, Sans knew it, but seeing Lilith burst through the cloud of dusty vines to tare after Alphys brought a smile to Sans face.

What was a little bit of pain if they were going to win?

Chara smirked as she watched Lilith run, gathering magic that did not belong to her. Gathering power, she otherwise would not have had she not absorbed so much of it from Lilith and Sans. She nearly laughed at seeing the mage dash after the lizard, such a neatly made trap that Lilith couldn’t see. She was too focused on saving her sisters little friend.

Sans saw the magic gathering from Chara, magic that felt far too familiar and he saw the rip in the space time continuum; saw the entrance of a shortcut long before Lilith did.

Panic hit hard, squeezing his already damaged soul as he cried out for her, “LIL FREEZE!”

She heard the panic in his voice, and war had long taught her when a Den mate yelled freeze like that, you did it; Lilith came skidding to a halt, freezing at first what she thought was nothing. There was no danger, just Alphys being dragged behind Flowy and out of sight.

Then, she saw it. Something shimmering in the air in front of her and if she tilted her head just right, she could see nothing beyond it. Like the veil, just there was something there, nothing at all.

Lilith took a step back as the portal shimmered close, and by Flowey’s side, Chara slumped. Exhausted and spent, her body melted a little further as thick gobs of spoiled magic splattered to the ground.

Sans sighed in relief, slumping as Lilith turned to give him a small salute to say _thank you._ His grin widened a little more, and Sans nodded at her. Lilith was safe. She was fine, and alive and she fell through the short cut that opened under her feet.

 Sans couldn’t see the panic on her face, and she didn’t utter a word as she fell into the void, but he felt her shock in her magic that was in the air.

Then, just as simple as that, Lilith was gone. The short cut entrance closed with no exit. Simply nothing. As though Lilith never existed, just like…

Sans chocked for a moment, just staring at the space Lilith had just been in. His soul throbbed and grief filled him. He blinked away his shock. He had to focus, even as Chara laughed and melted a little more.

Undyne cried in rage, her sorrow and rage fueling her to keep fighting on, but Sans knew they had lost the battle. Maybe the war. Numbness filled him for a moment as shock paralyzed him.

She wasn’t dead.

It was a simple thought, a fierce one. Lilith was alive in the void, he just had to find her.

Shaking away the growing numbness and pain, Sans forced himself to focus. He buried his pain beside his hurt and panic and grit his teeth. He was the Judge damn it; he could take on a dead child, with or without his power.

Chara laughed, drawing his angry, flickering eye-lights, “What’s wrong comedian?” her mouth drooped, and Sans realized she had spent too much magic to send Lilith to the void. She wouldn’t be able to hold this form without more.

Sans smirked at her wet, waxy look. A Gaster blaster was summoned and fired before any of them could react, turning the vines to dust around Undyne; Sans didn’t think, he turned her soul blue and threw her out of the hall, throwing her into Mettaton who still held tightly onto the two souls.

“Sans!” Undyne screamed his name, untangling herself from Mettaton, glaring darky and her face contorted into fear at having lost Alphys.

Pain ricocheted through Sans, and his legs shook, “S’okay Dyne. Paps is gonna need you.”

Then Sans turned the stone arch way above them blue and as Undyne screamed for him to stop, Sans pulled the arch way down and collapsed the tunnel.

Knees giving out, Sans slumped to the ground. Coughing, eyes watering in pain, he looked up to Asgore, smiling bitterly at his King, “Sorry Asgore.” Pain burned through him, and Sans vison swam, “Gotta find Lilith.”

He gathered his magic, not to free the grimacing king but to slip into a one-way short cut. He could find Lilith; she wouldn’t have gone far.

His magic fizzles and hissed at his fingers, and his soul went cold when he felt it give a little more; he winced when he heard the snap of a new crack but pushed passed it. He made the smallest tare in the fabric of time and space, when thick, fat vines wrapped around him. The tare snapped shut as his magic gave out, and the vines dragged him back to Chara.

The dead mage laughed despite how she melted, how the hate pooled from her eyes and mouth, and unhealed wounds, and she caught Sans around the throat while Flowey held his control hand shut and pulled him down to his knees.

Sans grimaced as she laughed, drawing away even as she pulled him close and her jaw fell away. “Oh comedian.” She slurred. “Everything I’ve done to you until now will look like child’s play. I’m not going to kill you Sans, you have something I need.” Her jaw began to reform, slow and sloppy, “Your magical well is deep.” Chara glanced up at Asgore and frowned, “And I’ve hurt my father too much already. You’ll give me what I need.”

Her cruel grin turned back to Sans, and he tried to fight but he was tired and hurting. He was so exhausted, and sleep sounded so good. But. Lilith. He needed to get to Lilith.

Sans gasped as Chara squeezed his throat and Oliva smirked over her shoulder. “I may not be able to reset time Sans, not with how deeply Lilith and Frisk’s magic has embedded into the underground, but I’ll force Frisk to. I’m going to do horrible things to you Sans, until you surrender completely.”

Sans struggled, his slippers digging into the broken, golden stones and his hand wrapped around Chara’s wrist. He tried to shove it off him, tried to struggle, but his magic left him, leaving him feeling dizzy and spent.  

“I’m going to hurt you Sans. And when you can’t take it anymore, Frisk will reset. Lilith will come back, and I’ll take her body. Then. Then I’m going to kill you in her skin.” Chara smirked, and Flowey laughed and spread out around them. “I’m going to absorb your magic Sans, and your going to keep this body alive for me. And I’m going to break you.”

Sans stared up at her, and for a moment he almost let the numbness take over. It would have been so easy. Instead he let his anger bubble, his LV flare in white hot rage. Lilith was trapped the void, but he could endure this. He would find a way to her.

His eye-lights disappeared, and Chara frowned. His soul burned and his magic flickered unsteadily, but he ignored it. He spat in Chara’s face, catching her off guard. His voice was steady despite everything, his smirk wide and cruel of the Judge, “F U C K Y O U.”

Chara smiled, not bothering to wipe the spend magic from her face and she squeezed his throat,   
“Oh, we’re going to have a great time Sans.”

Sans struggled, vowing to fight for as long as he could.

He had to find Lilith.

-

In the void, Lilith fell.

She fell head over heels, her magic still wrapped around her as she fell into nothing. Around, and around, and around. She fell into the void of white nothingness. There was no way out, no door to entrance way.

She screamed. She called for help.

But no body came.

She struggled and held onto her determination.

Yet, no body came.

She laughed and sobbed historically as she fell into the nothingness, felt her mind crack under the empty pressure of the void.   

Yet, no body came.

She held onto the last dregs of her sanity, thinking of a small, low HP, high LV monster that she loved. She couldn’t remember his name. Hell, she couldn’t remember her own name in the nothingness of the void, but she held onto the feeling.

She loved that monster, and she needed to get back.

Back to what, back to where she didn’t know. Just back.

She held onto her determination, and the love for the skeleton in her dreams. He made her laugh. He made her smile. He wasn’t afraid of her, and he loved her too she was sure. Even if she couldn’t remember what his name was.

Lilith fell through the void, head over heels and eventually, something came.


	18. A Pack of Wolves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lilith wakes up in her room and doesn't remember a thing. Good thing Sloan took out an insurance policy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dear readers, 
> 
> No big warnings in this chapter. What happened to Sans in chapter 15 is mentioned in a very vague sense, and there is mention of wanting to murder those involved in the incident. 
> 
> The scene with Gaster and Lilith was originally written in wing dings, but I have since discovered that AO3 doesn't appear to support the font. So I've had to change it up a bit to show that Lilith doesn't understand what he's saying. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Lilith tumbled through the void, sick and broken, her mind in shambles as she fell. She tried to pull herself back together, she’s determined to get through this. Determined to get back to….a sad little skeleton whose name she couldn’t remember.

She falls through the nothingness around her, struggling to remember her own name sometimes, clinging to snatches of memory that bubbled in her fractured mind.

She clung to the memory of a soft kiss, her hands on glossy bones and the taste of magic against her tongue. She clung to the feeling of love, of loving Sans.

_Sans._ His name was Sans.

She clung to that, clung to his name even as everything else slipped from her grasp like water.  She needed to get out of here and find Sans.

Lilith fell through the void and into nothingness, clinging to Sans’s name even when she forgot her own. She fell into nothingness until something caught her.

She opened her eyes, staring up at _something_ and sobbed brokenly at not being alone any longer. She clung to the creature that had her, clung to its long dark body, staring in awe at the white, cracked face and laughed a touch hysterically at the horrifying grin.

“Thank you.” Her voice was rough, and she felt nothing at the tears on her face. Sans. She needed to get to Sans.

“ _ ~~You Are Welcome, child~~._” The thing spoke to her, and Lilith frowned at it.

Her voice shook, and she didn’t understand. “What?”

“ ~~ _Worry not little one. I will see you home. This place has broken your mind, but it wont matter. You wont't remember this place. I will send you home with no memory of this time.” the creature began to walk, soft purple magic surrounding them both, and Lilith’s anxiety began to loosen. She relaxed in its arms, listening to its soothing words that she did not understand. “Your sister will help you remember what you need to._~~ ”

The creature looked down at her, and his frightening grin pulled into a frown, and Lilith felt sadness from him, “ ~~ _Please, save my son. Save Sans. He needs you, he needs you, he needs you so badly. Please don't let him suffer any longer. Don't let his pain be for nothing. Please, love him like he loves you._~~ ”

A portal ripple open, and Lilith feels a calm overtake her heart. Her memories are fading but she clings stubbornly to Sans. She can feel her sanity coming back, her mind snapping back together like pieces of a puzzle, slowly and carefully. She’s losing memories, but she doesn’t worry. Isn’t sure why, the creatures jumbled words soothing her.

She looks though the portal as she is gently pushed through, and she can see her bedroom. She looks to the creature and smiles, “Thank you.”

“ ~~ _You are most welcome child._~~ ”

Lilith is floating towards her bed, being pushed softly back into her world, “What’s your name?”

“ ~~ _W. D. Gaster._~~ ”

_W. D. Gaster._

Lilith nods, only catching the creatures name as she slips through the portal and slips into darkness as she passes out.

-

Lilith’s eyes crack open slowly, and she stretches in her bed with a yawn. She sighs as sunlight shines through her open window, a soft, warm summer breeze is gentle across her skin, and Lilith can’t help but feel unsettled. Like she’s forgotten something very important, like a dream she needed to remember; the smoky remnants of _something_ just out of her reach.

She squeezes her eyes shut and tries to hold on tighter, hold on to _something_.

Huffing a sigh, Lilith sits up and rubs the sleep from her eyes. She huffs, and her body feels unusual stiff, like she had been fighting with out a break, and her hair is greasy like she hasn’t showed in a week. She grimaces at the feeling of her body, but her confusion is shaken away by her hunger.

With a groan, Lilith presses her hands to her belly as it rumbles with hunger and emptiness pulses painfully at her. It feels like she has been living off magic for weeks, and that they hadn’t had Lola’s spaghetti last night.

Lilith suddenly pauses, her brow furrowing, and she frowned at her thin blue sheets. They didn’t have spaghetti last night, they had burgers. Why did she think it was spaghetti…?

_“So Papyrus,” soft memories of Papyrus making spaghetti for Frisk bubbled up and Lilith basked in the warmth of those memories, “Frisk tells me you make the best spaghetti around.”_

Shaking her head, Lilith wonders where that came from. It was like a memory, only like she was looking at it through foggy glass. Like she could almost make out the details, she could almost see a happy, skeletal face smiling back at her.

Then it was gone, washed away even as Lilith was trying to grasp at the broken fragments of the dream. Papyrus. She knew that word, knew it as a name but she didn’t know from where.

Papyrus and…

Papyrus and…

Papyrus and…..

Lilith snarled in frustration when she couldn’t remember. Shoving the blankets off, Lilith threw herself to her feet and staggered when she was hit with another wave of hunger, “What the fuck!” she spat at herself as she got her legs steadier under her.

Giving herself a little shake, Lilith forced herself to straighten up and get on with her day. Even when something niggled at the back of her mind, something she was forgetting.

Pulling her hair into a ponytail Lilith tried to remember where she knew the name Papyrus. Something warm and protective flashed at the thought of Papyrus, but Lilith couldn’t say why it was important. Why he was important.

Why was Papyrus and Sans important?

_Sans_.

The name had Lilith stumbling, going to her knees as _grief_ crippled her. She crumpled to the carpet of her bedroom, curling around herself and she couldn’t understand _why_. Tears slipped down her face as anger and rage and _love_ filled her, they warred in her soul. Confusion hit her hard and she didn’t understand why she was so upset. Why she was grieving over someone named Sans, like she had lost him somehow. Like she had lost the war, and suddenly her instinct was screaming at her to get to him, to find him! To get him someplace safe, he was hurt, too hurt, and keep him in the centre of the Den. The centre of the compound, where he would be safe, where Lilith could take care of him and could love him and…

With hitching breaths, Lilith shoved the feelings away. Shoved them down hard even when she didn’t understand why she was feeling like this. She didn’t know anyone named Sans. She wasn’t in love with anyone.

Her soul pulsed painfully, telling her that was a fucking lie, that she loved Sans; instinct agreed and demanded action. Her LV seemed to be on the same fucking page, and despite her head telling her no, no, no, her LV bubbled hotly under her skin and told her yes, yes, yes.

Bottling her emotions, Lilith grit her teeth and forced herself to her feet. Something was very wrong, and she wasn’t one to ignore her instinct, not when it had kept her alive for so long. Something was wrong with her. She needed to get to her Den, they’d help her she was sure. They would know what’s going on, maybe they were attacked, and she was having trouble remembering.

Lola could heal her if she was hurt and Sloan would know what to do.

Staggering to her feet and out of the room, Lilith tried not to panic when she stumbled. She tried not to worry; they’d figure it out.  

_Sans moans when Lilith’s tongue rolls gently over his own and he can feel her grin against him…_

Lilith stumbled and caught herself against the bannister and she can taste magic in her mouth as her heart swells with _love_.

What. The. Actual. Fuck?

Lilith feels panic bubble when she touches her fingertips to her bottom lip, and she _knows_ what it feels like to press a kiss to Sans, whoever the fuck that is. She knows what he tastes like, knows what he feels like when she presses her hands to his shoulders and hold him. She _knows_.

Lilith also knows that she wants him, wants to bring him home where he would be safe, and she could protect him, and she could love him.

Her rage bubbles hotly, and she knows he’s in trouble.

With a low snarl, Lilith rips her hand away from her mouth and balls her hands by her sides in anger and she fights the next memory that comes up and is bitter when she fails.

_Lilith cupped the back of his head as if he were the most precious thing in the world to her. Like he mattered at all. “I’ve got you Sans. I’ve got you.” She murmured softly, still staring in shock at the brutality that had been inflicted onto him, and he can’t comprehend what’s happening._

She stumbles as she slowly makes the way down the stairs. Someone hurt him, someone hurt him so badly, and she _knows_. She saw, she knows what Oliva did to Sans, and the rage in her soul swells. She wants to kill the hare, she knows she could still skin her and make her suffer and…

Who the fuck was Oliva?

Anger flared hard, but Lilith shoved it down as she stumbled down the stairs; she could hear her family in the kitchen. She could hear Felix singing, and Sloan laughing. She could smell the pancake’s Lola had made for breakfast and could smell the gun oil as Ryder cleaned his rifle.

She could hear Lola scolding Ryder for doing so, could hear Ryder’s bashful apology, and Lilith’s heart swells. Her Den, her family, are just there. Just in the next room and pain ripples though Lilith. They’ll help her, they’ll know what the fuck to do.

Panic swells when Lilith realizes she can’t hear Frisk.

Stumbling into the kitchen, Lilith’s legs are shaking under her and she leans on the door jam to keep herself up right. Her voice is shaky and hitches, and she feels like she hasn’t seen her Den in months. Her magic flickers faintly, and she realizes suddenly that she’s nearly completely drained. 

“Sloan?” her voice hitches in fear, she just doesn’t understand what the fuck is happening. “Something’s wrong with me.”

Her four Den mates all turn to her suddenly and they all go very, very still. Shock ripples through them as they stare at her; Lola’s hand loosens on her cup and her glass shatters as it hits the ground and her eyes flash like emeralds.

Felix, tall, athletic Felix, with his olive skin and glossy black hair that had been styled into a carefully crafted, short moehawk, who is always a rock, stills. His dark eyes widened, and his mouth fell open as he stared at his sister, his words too soft when he said her name.

Ryder’s pale face went nearly translucent and his dark eyes widened and flickered orange as the smallest whine was pulled from his chest.

Sloan slowly stood, getting over her shock faster then the others and she reached out a delicate hand out to Lilith, “Lil, are you okay?”

Lilith feels weak and dizzy, and as she looks at her arms, she realizes that her arms are thinner than they should be. It was like muscle wasting, “I don’t know.” Her voice is small when she reaches for her sister.

Sloan’s hand is strong on her arm as she pulls Lilith into a hug, locking her against her chest as Lilith’s legs shake under her, “Sloan, what’s going on?”

Her head shook softly against Lilith’s head, and with surprising strength, she led her sister to the table, “Eat first.”

Lilith nods, allowing herself to be led by her sister to her usual seat between Sloan and Felix. Dropping into the seat heavily, Lola is already piling pancakes onto a plate and Felix drags his sister into the tightest hug Lilith can remember. No one is talking, they’re all just staring.

She grunts in pain, her head spinning as Felix hugs her tightly, his breathing going shaky when he mutters, “I fucking missed you!”

Lilith goes still as Lola placed a plate in front of her with a glass of orange juice. Lola pauses, glances uncertainly to Sloan before she lays a careful hand on Lilith’s boney shoulder.

Lilith’s head tilts up in confusion as she lays an arm around Felix, her face drawn into uncertainty as Lola’s healing magic begins to seep into her body as Lola begins to rebuild her body. Repairing damage caused by _starvation_.

Lilith’s breathing hitches and fear is ratcheting up as she clings to Felix. She can feel her muscles bulking up again, she can feel her internal organs repairing themselves and her hair becoming thick and glossy again. She’s still so hungry, but at least she doesn’t feel like she will collapse. “Sloan?”

Sloan shakes her head slowly, her full lips pulling into a frown, “Not right now. Eat first.” Sloan pauses, her dark eyes flashing cyan blue as her patience soul pulsed, “Felix, let her eat.”

Nodding, Felix lets her go and tries to be discrete as he wipes a tear from his eyes and Lilith starts to panic. She can count on one hand the number of times Felix had cried, and something awful has had to happen for him to do so. Felix was her opposite; loud, brash, a little off plum. Felix was one of her best friends, her battle mage brother, and she knew how unshakable he was. 

He shifts his chair closer so that their thighs brush, like he’s afraid she’ll disappear into nothingness if he’s too far away. He won’t look at her, but she can see his gold eyes flashing and the face of the demon flicker over his face.

Lola sits back down on Sloan’s other side, and after taking another look around at her Den, Lilith begins to slowly eat her breakfast. No one says a thing, but Lilith is just so hungry that she firmly ignores the staring from her brothers and sisters and eats.

She feels better by the times she has destroyed two plates of pancakes, four pieces of toast and four glasses of orange juice. She manages to eat fruit as well, eating most of what was on the table in utter, terrible, awkward silence. Her family just stared at her, watching her eat patiently.

Sloan stood, but no one watched her leave, all focused on her eating and Lilith shifted awkwardly. When she returned, Sloan carefully placed four, ice cold jars on the table, each one sparkling like the night sky. Lilith slowed her eating, staring at the potions in the jars, magical restoration to replenish the magic she had lost. Lilith looked at the four jars, then to Sloan.

Sloan nodded to the jars, arching a delicate brow and dared Lilith to argue; heaving a sigh Lilith took the jar and drank deeply. The ice-cold potion made her shutter, made her magic churn as it was replenished far too quickly, and Lilith felt herself becoming energized and ready for battle.

All of this was making her nervous.

Breakfast was usually a very loud affair. They would talk and sing, and it was the one meal that the entire family had to be there for.

When she was sure she couldn’t eat anymore, Lilith pushed her plate away and turned to Sloan, “Okay. What the hell is going on?”

Sloan stared at her sister before she took a long, slow breath, “Lilith, I don’t know what happened to you. The last time we spoke you were in the underground with a monster named Sans.”

Lilith’s eyes widened and her fists tightened into fists, “Sans?” she cringed at how weak her voice was how her soul pulses with worry and love.

Sloan nodded, her expressive features pulling into concern, “Yes Lilith. Sans.” She paused and took Lilith’s hand, “Lili. You were falling in love with him.”

Lilith’s mouth fell open to deny that fact, that she didn’t love anyone, but her soul swelled, and the truth chocked her. Her teeth snapped shut, because she did love Sans.

If she focused hard enough, she could almost make out his face; smooth sleek bones, a permanent grin and the saddest eyes Lilith had ever seen.

_She snuggled into Sans, cupping his cracked soul gently and she wrapped herself tightly around his abused body like armor._

“He’s hurt.” Lilith says instead of denying the truth, her eyes unfocused and she swears she can feel Sans tremble under her hands. She knows something horrific happened to him, something so fucking brutal. 

“Lilith.” Sloan’s too soft voice brings her eyes back up to her sister; Sloan’s smile is small, her eyes tight with worry and she squeezes at Lilith’s hand, “Lilith, you have been missing for four months. I have no idea how you have gotten into the house, never mind your room. We have been searching for the entrance to the underground for three and a half months. When you and Frisk didn’t surface, I got worried. I couldn’t find you in this world and I couldn’t feel you.”

Lilith’s mouth drops open and hurt swells in her soul, “Four months?”

Sloan nods slowly, licking her lip.

Felix’s breathing hitches and suddenly his hand has her other one, “We thought you were dead.” He whispers, and it doesn’t even sound like him.

Shock ripples though Lilith, and she’s shaking her head in denial, “No, it can’t be.” Her voice is too small. Hurt and confusion war, and she knows something is so, so wrong.

“Lilith, what do you remember?” Sloan asks her softly.

“I don’t remember…” Lilith’s words die in her throat. She kissed Sans. She remembers it, remembers that she liked it, and she liked him. That she loved him and was too much a coward to tell him the truth. “I remember flashes. Just, flashes. They’re out of order and I don’t have context.” She pauses, and really focuses.  “I remember the feeing’s.”

Sloan nodded, still squeezing her hand when Ryder softly asked, “Is this because of the time mage?” Lilith goes still, her hear pounding in her chest and suddenly she’s filled with _rage._

Sloan rubs her back to help calm her when her breathing picks up and Felix squeezes her hand tightly as she hisses “ _Time mage!_ ”

“Maybe.” Sloan agrees, and she offers a soft look at Lilith’s stricken face, “But this is why I took out the insurance policy.”

Confusion swirled through Lilith as the Den stared at Sloan expectantly; the spell caster pressed her hand flat to Lilith’s chest, and very gently pulled outward as though to summon her soul. Instead of her brilliantly red soul, a cyan magic poured from her skin, leeching away slowly to spiral into a ball, hovering over Lilith’s chest.

“What is that Sloan?” Lola’s voice is soft and low, her green magic flicking at her fingertips, her need to shield her family bubbling.

Lilith blinked at the blue magic that seeped from her body, it shimmered purple suddenly and Sloan grinned in victory, “It’s the most powerful memory spell I know.” Her dark eyes, so soft and bright with triumph, “When time mages were more common, this spell was used to remind Coven’s of things that they may have forgotten if time was reset. This spell can over come time and space to warn closely knitted Dens.”

All eyes shifted to the ball of magic, and Lilith frowned even as Sloan continued, “Lil. All you have to do is touch this, and four months of missing memories will be ours.”

Dark, cold eyes glanced to her sister with a frown, “All of ours?”

“Oh yes.” She nodded happily, her eyes flashing cyan, “This spell warns _Covens and Dens._ Everything that you have experienced will become ours.”

With a huff, Lilith glanced down annoyed at the ball of magic, and next to her Felix laughed, it was watery and cold, and wrong, “Hope you didn’t do anything we wouldn’t have done.”

Rolling her eyes, Lilith can hear the challenge in her brother’s voice, the dare to touch the ball of magic. Even tired as she was, Lilith was not one to balk at a challenge and wrapped her hand around the ball of magic; the effect was instant, and memories hit Lilith like a brick to the back of the head.

It was sudden, brutal and left her reeling, left her bleeding. She remembered everything, she remembered Sans, kissing Sans, _fucking loving Sans._ She remembered what Oliva did to him, the state she had left him in. Guilt nearly crippled her again, and she tried to from the words to express her remorse but was left floundering.  

Gasping for air as the memories abruptly ended with dark eyes and a frightening smile and the words _W. D. Gas…._

“I left him.” Lilith gasped, her hands clutching the table hard enough to crack the wood. Shock rippled through the magical bonds that held them together, strong enough that even Fate would nod her head in respect. “I fucking left him.” She hissed and rage began to build.

“I wouldn’t say that.” Ryder said, feeling dizzy and sick at Lilith’s memories, feeling the weird aftereffects of Lilith’s emotions. He swallowed hard several times to push down the nausea, shaking his massive head to clear it. His words were slow and clear, “You were forced away from him. You were forced somewhere.” He could taste bile at the back of his tongue, and he grimaced.

“Where were you?” Lola’s voice was wobbly, and her emerald eyes were filled with liquid and she was staring at her sister, “I couldn’t see where you were, but you were in so much pain.” She bit her lip, her kindness soul throbbing in grief for one of her own, “Lilith.” Her hurt was cut off as Lola shoved herself out of the chair, walked around her Den mates with the determination of a soul she did not possess and threw her arms tightly around her battle mage.

Lilith returned the hug just as tight, guilt and worry battling. Hurt that wouldn’t settled bubbled and aggravated her LV because she had left him. “I’m okay.” Her voice was thick, and she swallowed down her pain. “I’m okay Lola.” She said again, her voice stronger, monotone and edging into something far darker.

“Where were you?” Lola asked from Lilith’s shoulder, still not quite ready to release her hold on her fierce sister, not when she had been left so damaged and put back together, not when she had been missing for four fucking months. Her own pain and guilt mixed with that she felt from the memories, and she squeezed her sister. 

“The place between worlds.” Sloan said quietly, “A place that time and space do not matter, and if you have the power, you can slip through it.”

Lilith nodded, still clinging to her younger sister, Lola wrapped around her like a shield. “It’s what Sans can do; he calls them shortcuts.” Lilith’s muffled voice was against her sister.

Sloan nodded, digging through Lilith’s memories, “Chara did this.”

Panicked, Lilith looked up from Lola’s chest, her face pale with distress, “Do you think she can do this now?”

Slowly, Sloan shook her head no, “I don’t think so. I think this is temporary, like that body she created. Once the magic she’s absorbed is gone, that’s it.”

“It makes her dangerous.” Ryder rumbled, thumbing at the container of gun oil. “If she can absorb our magic and use our own power against us…” his massive shoulder shrugged, his accent coming out thicker, “We will need to find _other_ was to deal with it.”

“We have to kill it.” Lola said firmly, squeezing Lilith to her still, afraid to let her go yet.

“And Oliva. She’s just as much apart of this.” Lilith pauses, and her eyes fill with crimson rage, “And what she did to Sans.”

“We’re going to get back to him.” Sloan said firmly, her hand falling to Lilith’s shoulder, “We are Den, and so are they. We will make them all pay.” Her eyes flashed fierce cyan, and her tattoo burned in the color of her magic before it settled.

Taking deep, calming breaths, Lilith nodded. Her family had her handled, they would help her. They would go to the underground and wage war; they would help her find their family and find Sans. Her heart sunk at the thought of him, alone and hurt, his soul cracked for four months.   

She thought to the scattered memories of the place she was. Nowhere, lost in a void of nothingness. Something had gotten her out, something had taken her home, and something was blocking her memories of that place. Something didn’t want her to remember the pain, the fear and she was certain that her mind had broken, but what was it. If she focused hard enough, she could almost remember…

Felix suddenly burst into laughter; deep and slightly unhinged, his gold eyes glinting with the cruelty of someone with deep magic and a monster in their soul, “You fell in love.” He mocked, his grin as sharp as one of Lilith’s knifes, “With a fucking skeleton.”

Four sets of eyes swung up to him and Lilith’s filled black with rage. The growl rumbled from her throat was as clear a warning as anything, and it made Felix smirk.

“Lil. Come on, you’re Death and you want to smooch a skeleton.” Felix paused, his smirk going wider, “You’re Death and you _did_ smooth the skeleton.” He dropped an elbow onto the table, his chin planted softly into his hand, not once caring at his sister’s growing rage, “Gotta say Lily, always thought you’d fall for someone with more _meat_ on their bones.”

He smirked at Lilith’s anger and how her magic sparked at her fingertips, and how she grit her teeth. Felix slowly licked his teeth, “Didn’t think this would get under your _skin_ Lilith. Not with how much you care for the _bonely_ little skeleton.”

Shock rippled through the rest of the Den as Lilith slowly stood, shaking her sisters’ hands from her body. Languidly, Lilith walked to where her brother sat smirking at the table, his eyes glinting in gold and madness

Lilith knew she was being baited, she knew he was trying to upset her in a way that only younger brothers could, and that his cruelty was not seen that way to him. The demon in his soul skewing what he saw as playful teasing and unnecessary hurt. Lilith knew it but knowing that didn’t cool her growing anger. Her worry, and hurt and rage building in her chest, making her LV bubble under her skin.

She didn’t pull her punch when she hit him, lightning fast to aim at his face. His nose gave way with a satisfying crunch as she broke it, the knuckles of her hand covered in his blood as she hit him. Felix’s smirk fell and he fell backwards as his chair tipped back, sending him to the floor.

Lilith didn’t wait to see if he was okay, she spun on the balls of her feet away from him and stormed from the room. Her fists clenched tighter when Felix’s maniacal laughter followed her from the room, but she smothered the urge to go back into the kitchen and kick him.

She had a kingdom to save, and if she was going to do it, she wasn’t going down to the underground unprepared again. They had an armory, and she was going to use it.  

Sloan watched Lilith leave, watched her sister’s emotions be buried under a layer of utter rage and watched as the killing edge creeped ever closer to the surface of her mind. She saw how her eyes flickered from crimson, to blood red to black and back again as she struggled to contain her rage.

Then she was gone, likely to the armory, and it was only when Felix began to laugh did Sloan whirl around to face him. Her eyes shone cyan and flickered black with her viciousness, “What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?”

Felix pushed himself up by leveraging himself off the table, his smile still wide and cruel and the battle mage healing trait was putting his nose back together, “Putting things into perspective for her.”

Sloan glared, magic gathering at her clenched fists and she grit her teeth, “What?”

Felix wiped the blood away with the back of his hand, his smirk still wide and cruel, “Sis, you saw her memories. She’s in love with that skeleton, and what ever happened to her in the void, broke her. She can’t be feeling guilty over what happened, she can’t be bleeding from leaving him behind and we have no idea what we are going to find underground.”

His grin fell, his face becoming serious, “If we want to save her little _bone_ friend, then she needs to be titanium. She needs to be ready to take a hit and be able to withstand it. If we’re going to war, Lilith can’t be a mess.” Blood smeared across his face, and his sharp grin returned, “And now she won’t. Not when rage is fueling her and she’s riding the killing edge.”

He shrugged and side-stepped Sloan, his smirk wide, “We’ll deal with the fall out later. Lets just get her little boy friend back, shall we?” with a cheery wink he waggled his fingers at her and slid from the room after his sister.

Sloan heaved a sigh, and Ryder rumbled from the table, “Fucking battle mages.”   

Sloan nodded in agreement, then went to follow their Den mates.

-

Strapping a black, bullet proof vest on, Lilith bitterly dressed for her second trip down into the underground; it took too much magic to maintain her armor when she didn’t have a secure way to regain it, so she went with the modern option. The vest was lighter than her chest plate and she wouldn’t have to maintain it, leaving her more magic to funnel into her body.

Pulling her hair into a ponytail, Lilith began to dress for battle with a mix of modern and magical pieces. She pulled on black stretchy pants that allowed her to move easily before she pulled on a pair of knee-high boots with the metal trim at the toe that was sharp enough to cut through flesh. She summoned her gantlets and the pauldren over her right shoulder; the summoned items chosen due to their low magic consumption even if she missed the heavy weight of her chest plate and helmet.

Grimly, Lilith pulled out a black duffel bag to fill, this time, she wasn’t going to the underground unprepared. She wasn’t going to rely solely on her magic, not when she had an armory at her fingertips.

Coming to a locked shelf, she pressed her hand against the fingerprint scanner and the glass case hissed open. She reached for her weapon of choice, pulling out a pair of 9mm Glocks. They shimmered in red magic, absorbing the intent behind what she was shooting at. With a grimace she strapped them to her thighs. Swords were her specialty and her preference, but right now she needed to find long range attacks that would help spare her magic, help it last just a little longer. Once the bullets ran out, the Glocks were glorified paper weights.

Unlocking the shelf above the weapon cabinet, Lilith took every box of hallow point 9mm she had and set them carefully into the bag. Reaching back into the gun cabinet, Lilith pulled out the 12-gauge shotgun and like the Glocks, they shimmered in her magic, increasing their stopping power; she only ever brought these out when they were dealing with Wrathes.

The associated arsenal was put into the bag with the 9mm and Lilith locked up the mostly empty shelves. Slinging the heavy pack over her shoulder Lilith went to the shelf with magical weaponry as Felix swaggered in.

Leaning against the door frame, he rose a dark brow as Lilith unlocked the cabinet with enchanted blades and dragon fire. She reached for jars of dragon fire, it burned in bright purples and greens and would burn for as long as the user had the intent to use it.

It brightened as Lilith’s hands wrapped around the cold jars and they were tucked next to the bullet boxes.

“You going to war Lili?” Felix asked lightly, watching his sister reached for three more jars.

Lilith glared at him over her shoulder, adding three more jars to the pack. Felix nodded at her slowly, his lips pulling back to show a cruel smile and his eyes flickered gold, “Alright then.”

Pushing off the wall, Felix sauntered to his own locker, unlocking it with a gentle click of the palm reader. Lilith ignored him, fear for her loved ones in the underground making her quick and choking her words. She needed to get back there, she needed to bring as much as she could carry just in case. In case…

“Lili, which ones should I bring?” with an angry sigh Lilith turned to Felix as he held out two battle axes. He lifted one that shone red, “The pyre axe that was forged in the first volcanoes of the created by Gia?” he then lifted the one that shone blue, “Or the glacier blade, forged in the coldest waters of the north pole?”

Lilith continued to silently glare at him, hard and angry, her gaze unwavering. Felix smiled at her, waiting for an answer. Turing silently away, Lilith reached for the short sword of her own that turned to fire the moment her fingers touched the hilt. Slipping it into its sheath, Lilith neatly strapped the blade to her back before she reached for its icy twin.

“I mean,” Felix continued, and Lilith grit her teeth to hear the smirk in his voice, “If we’re going by Pokemon rules, when you fight a grass type, fire and ice are twice as strong right?”

Rage hit Lilith like a train, and she spun to glare at Felix angrily; her eyes flooded black as she spat at him, “This isn’t a fucking game Felix! People I care about are trapped with a dead mage who is going to hurt them! Get with the fucking program!”

Felix tilted his head at his sister, his smirk never once faltering. He dropped the axes, they fell heavily to the floor, landing blades first to sink into the wood, so Felix could lay his hands gently on Lilith’s shoulders. He could feel her shoulders raising and falling as she panted, her rage causing her to tremble, and Felix _grinned_.

“Lilith.” He said in a sweet voice, poison wrapped in a pretty wrapper, “I won’t say that I get it. I don’t get why you love _him_ of any species.” Lilith growled low in her throat, but Felix was unbothered, “I mean, you’re the personification of Death. You’re a legend. There are people that won’t come into our territory, because of you. There are people that live in our territory, because of you. There are hardened warriors who will leave any establishment you walk into, because of who you are.” 

“I’m a glorified killer.” She hissed; eyes inky black.

Felix’s smile never once faltered, “Aren’t we all? Point is sis, you’re a terrifying force to be reckoned with.  You are a creature with which one does not fuck. There are at least, a hundred different warriors who would jump at the chance to be your boy toy.”

“Why are like this?” she hissed, but Felix ignored it.

“And you fell in love with a short, low HP, skeletal monster. I mean, don’t you see the jokes there? Death fell in love with a skeleton. Come on Lili, it’s hilarious.” Lilith’s hands balled into fists, and rage made everything take on a wash of red. Felix continued undeterred, “I don’t get it. Like, at all. You could have had _anyone,_ and you chose him. I don’t have to get it though. I don’t.” the grin fell, and his face became serious, “And so help me Lili, I will help you get back to him. I will fucking hand deliver him to you if that’s what it takes.”

Felix’s eyes washed over in the same inky black as Lilith’s as his vice spiked, and his soul was filled with vengeance, “If the underground has been reset, he’ll remember you. You’ll get your second chance and you won’t have a fucking kid as back up. If he’s been killed,” Lilith made a soft, wet noise and Felix squeezed her shoulders, “Frisk can reset. We will get him back.”

“And what if Chara takes my body? Felix, he won’t survive if it’s me that’s hurting him.”

Felix’s smile became cruel and the demon’s face flickered over his own, “Lilith, I promise you, if that happens. I will kill you. I will put your down before you hurt your _bone_ friend.”

Lilith relaxed a little under Felix’s hands and sighed, “Thanks.” Her voice was soft, but her rage had yet to recede. She couldn’t pull in back in quite yet.

“And Lili, if he’s hurt. If anyone has touched him or hurt him or anything.” Felix’s magic shuttered out from him in a violent wave, “I’ll help you destroy anyone who hurt him. Anyone even remotely involved, we will end them.”

Terrible, violent magic shuttered around the battle mages, and Lilith relax. The blackness from her eyes faded away to blood red and she nodded at him, “He’s not afraid of me Felix.” Her voice is small, and it hurts Felix to hear his beloved sister sound so wounded, “Thank you.”

Felix relaxed himself, his own eyes returning to gold as he pulled Lilith into a quick hug, “Any time sis.” He shifted so that he slung an arm over her shoulders, they stared at the weapons cabinet with the blades and dragon fire, “So, since we’re going into Mordor, and one does not simply _walk_ into Mordor,” Lilith groaned at his words, “Let’s pack up more dragon fire shall we?”

Snorting, Lilith pushed Felix off her shoulders and reached for the last jars of dragon fire, “Yes, lets.”

Sloan and Lola came into the armory, followed by Ryder. Sloan rose an eyebrow at the axes in the floor and Lola shook her head.

Lola went to one cabinet and started to collect shield crystals and the staff that went with them as Sloan began to pull on her own modern armor. Her voice was amused, “Bring both Felix.”

Felix laughed, pulling the axes from the floor and went back to the cabinet, “Well, judging by the amount of ammo Lili’s brining, we’d better bring all the good shit.”

Lilith paused, suddenly looking at her Den, really looking. Lola was pulling healing potions from one cabinet and a mythical bow that shone silver, Ryder was pulling out a rifle with a long-range scope and his own fire blade. Sloan was pulling spells that were contained in bottles, ready to be used by anyone with the right intent to use them.

“You. You’re all coming?” she asked uncertain, feeling stupid as four sets of eyes turned to stare at her surprised.

“Well, yeah.” Felix said, the unspoken _duh_ heard easily in his voice.

“Did you really think we’d let you go alone?” Sloan asked, sounding amused in the way an adult explains something simple to a child.

Ryder laughed at the thought, slinging the rifle over his shoulder with a shake of his head, “Like that will happen.” He said gruffly, “You’ve stumbled across Den mates. _Real_ Den mate who are in danger and hurt. You think we’re going to let you go after them alone?”

“Against an enemy that’s bested you once?” Sloan rose a delicate brow as she pulled her own 12-Gauge from the cabinet, “Come no Lil. We’re not leaving you to die alone.”

Felix grinned happily, “I’d rather _hang_ together than hang alone.”

“We’ll find Sans.” Lola said gently, strapping a silver quiver to her back, arrows shimmering just out of sight, “We’ll bring him and Frisk and Papyrus home.”

Lilith nodded, her eyes suddenly going wet. She wouldn’t be alone this time, she would have her Den. The tension in her shoulders loosened. This time, they’d hit Chara with all they had.

With a terrible smirk, she pulled out a grenade launcher and the C4 from a shelf that carefully read _Wrath Defense Only_ , it seemed like it was going to be that sort of day.


	19. Maybe you can SAVE something else

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lilith and her Den enter the underground. They discover that somethings are not as they appear to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Dear Readers, 
> 
> No warnings in this chapter really. There's some fighting, some violence but it's not graphic or gory. 
> 
> More notes at the bottom that are a little spoil-ish. 
> 
> Cheers

Lilith glanced around at her Den as they dropped belaying ropes into the hole that would take them to the underworld, and she watched as over two hundred feet of rope disappeared with their survival packs. 

Shifting, Lilith gets her weapons pack more comfortably across her shoulders as she hooks up her harness for the decent; finding the entrance to the underworld had been easy with Frisk’s memories, and after a short packing session the Pandora Den was armed to the teeth.

Lola attached her rope to her survival kit and dropped it down the cave, and Felix whistled as he watched it plunge into the darkness; after the armory they had raided the survival room. Proper clothing for fighting in the winter and the heat had been packed away. Proper tents, sleeping bags and food packed away and Lilith had taken a moment to get Sans thick socks and black shoes with white laces.

The shoes had been enchanted, they would stay dry and warm no matter how deep the snow or if they were submerged into water. They would keep Sans’s feet dry.

She also had a pair of black wrist bands with the word _Death_ branded into the fabric and so full of protective magic and intent, that if someone so much a _brushed_ against Sans with a want to hurt him, the magic would react. Violently. With Lilith’s magic.

“That’s a long way down.” Felix smirked as he cracked the neon green glow sticks, the light flashing eerily on his face as he dropped them into the hole.

Felix leaned dangerously forward with a frown, watching them fall and blink out of sight. “Huh.” His head tilted to the side and he reached for three more glow sticks, cracking them before dropping them into the hole. They followed their brethren, and disappeared into the darkness, “Why did Frisk think this was a good idea to jump into a fucking hole where you can’t see the bottom?”

“She was raised by crazy battle mages.” Ryder told him simply as he pulled on his harness. “Same reason we’re going in after her.”

Felix nodded sagely, his eyes shining gold with amusement, “I suppose.” He stood and adjusted his rope, glancing to Lilith, “I can’t believe you swan dived off a fucking ledge.”

Lilith looked to her brother, his wide smirk and she added a layer of softness to her voice, “Felix, are you harnessed in?”

Head tilting to the side, Felix checked his rope and harness, tugged on his pack to ensure it was secure before he answered, “Looks like. Why?”

Lilith smirked as she stalked up to him, her own harness tight against her weapons bag as she squared up with Felix, “I’ve always wanted to try this.” She said mildly enough before she suddenly spartan kicked her brother in the chest.

Felix gasped as the air was forced from his lungs, and he was shoved backwards into the hole; the rope around his waist caught him and slowed his decent enough that Lilith could hear him laugh and yell up at her _SPARTAAAAA_ as he fell.

Sloan gave her an unamused look as Lilith hooked herself into her own rope, “At least he got that reference.” She said with the same mildness as she had asked him if he was hooked in, a brief moment of glee before her face became impassive stone.

Below her, was hell. Sans was down there, likely hurting and afraid, and Lilith was not putting much stock in him recovering from what Oliva had done to him four months ago. She bit her tongue hard enough to taste blood, something was going on down there. Chara wasn’t going to give up her power now, so Frisk was stuck, they all where.

That was enough to reignite her rage, and with grim determination, Lilith turned and jumped backwards into the hole, belaying her way down; she shivered when she passed through the barrier like she had jumped into the lake by their compound in the middle of spring, when the ice had just melted.

She pushed her discomfort aside and worked her way down the cave; she could see the glowing green light from the glow sticks and Felix was settling his pack onto his back.

Lilith took a breath and allowed her feet to touch the rocky ground below, her family landing around her and their eyes glowed in the dark cavern the colors of their magic.

“Something’s wrong.” Lilith said slowly as she unhooked her rope and swung her pack up onto her back.

Felix’s eyes rolled, pulling his shot gun from his pack and cocking it, the _click-clack_ too loud in the cavern, “You don’t say.” He said with the same mildness that Lilith had asked him if he was harnessed in, “It’s almost as if there’s a cruel demon with a fucking plant hunting people down here.”

With another overly bright grin, Felix carelessly made his way out of the cavern, whistling merrily as he walked without a care in the world.

Ryder sighed, shaking his head as he followed their brother, his own rifle in his hands, “I’ll go make sure he’s okay.”

Lilith went to follow when Lola grabbed her elbow to stop her, “Lilith wait.” Crimson eyes swung back around to meet emerald, and kind, sweet Lola squared up with Lilith, “Chara hasn’t reset and neither has Frisk. We don’t know what kind of shape the underground is in, and we don’t know what kind of shape Sans is in.”

Lilith frowned, and for a moment grief swelled in her soul; she had left him down here to die. _She fucking left him_.

“Lilith,” Lola’s eyes although kind, her voice was hard, “You need to be prepared for what we find.” she shifted nervously and glanced at the entrance of the underground, “We don’t know what state Sans will be in, but we need you to keep your head.”

Lilith took a breath, her fists clenching tightly, and she nodded even as her eyes flashed black with rage, “I know.” Her voice is small and tightly controlled. “This won’t hamper my ability to fight.”

Lola gives her an uncertain look, and Lilith gives her as reassuring smile as she can when she says, “I’m going to kill every single one of them anyways.”

Lola’s brow furrows and with a sigh she lets Lilith go to follow the boys. She disappears through the entrance of the underground, unclipping her holsters at her hip.

Sloan comes to stand next to Lola, frowning after her sister, “I’ll be honest, I didn’t think she was capable of loving like that anymore. Not anyone outside the Den.”

Lola frowns after her sister, and for a moment there is sadness in her eyes that is overtaken by hate. Lola’s eyes flash black, “And if they have taken him away from her, they will all suffer the consequences.”   

Sloan raises a brow at her sister, it’s rare for Lola to allow her vice to bubble to the surface and she quickly gets it under control. Lola shivers, before she settles back into neutrality.  

Sloan grins at her little sister, throwing an arm around her with a smirk, “Then let’s go and ensure that Sans is reunited with her so that Lilith can kill them all without grief fueling her soul.”

Squaring her shoulders, Lola nods at Sloan’s words and can only hope they’re in time to save Sans.

-

The Ruins were quiet, far too quiet as the Den of mages made their way through the Underground, and Toriel never came to look for human’s that had fallen.

Lilith licked her teeth, her soul swelling with unease, “This is wrong.” She says again, looking around the empty, dead Ruins. The air is stuffy and still, thick with fear, she frowns at the thick vines that break through the purple walls.  

The others nodded, glancing around the Ruin with a frown, “No dust in the air.” Ryder said softly, afraid to speak too loudly and attacked whatever creature had emptied out the Ruins.  

Felix suddenly freezes, his eyes flashing liquid gold, his voice low when he whispers, “Contact. Eleven o’clock.”

The Den drops to a knee, lowering themselves as they glance around to see what Felix does, and Lola suddenly frowns, “Lilith,” she whispers, “have there always been vines here?”

Lilith suddenly looks away, considering the purple walls of the Ruin and the thick, ugly vines that are winding through them, “No.” she whispers back slowly, “No they haven’t been.”

Lola frowns, as Sloan glances around, “Felix, I can’t see anything.”

“It’s small. Really small.” He slowly sets down his shotgun, gently enough that it doesn’t make a noise. His pack comes next, settling down softly onto the stone. His head cocks to one side, “It’s kinda cute. Like a glow bug or something.”

Lilith and Sloan frown at each other, then glance nervously at whatever Felix can see through the vines in the walls.

“Felix,” Sloan says softly, and his gold eyes glance back at her with a frown, “Fetch.”

Felix’s smile is sharp and wide, his eyes glittering with dangerous intent, “Yes ma’am.” Then he was gone, nothing but gold smoke and start dust.

There was a soft cry, a thump and the sound of something breaking, and Felix was back, grinning widely with his hands carefully cupped around something, “Easy, peasy, lemon squeezey.” He said brightly, holding out his carefully enclosed hands to the others.

Slowly, the Den pushed themselves to their feet as one, a testament to how deeply their magic was intertwined, that on a subconscious level they could move as one. Like magnets, when one moved so did the others, always where they needed to be.

Lola’s head tilted, confused and concerned, “It’s so small.” She said softly, examining Felix’s cupped hands.

“Think it’s scared.” He nodded as he carefully uncupped his hands, his tongue caught in his teeth as he focused, not wanting the little monster to escape.

The Den clustered around Felix as he slowly opened his hand, and Lilith smiled down at the tiny monster in his hands, “It’s a Whimsum.”

The little creature in Felix’s hands whimpered, curling tightly into a tiny ball as it shivered, “Please don’t hurt me.” She said quietly.

Felix’s head tilted, and he grinned, “It’s fucking adorable.” He said happily, his smirk widening, “It’s okay kiddo. We’re not going to hurt you.”

The little Whimsum looked up, shivering in Felix’s hands and whipped away the tears from her little face. She hiccupped and looked down again. “Got a name kiddo?” he asked with a surprising amount of gentleness from a battle mage.

The little Whimsum nodded, her voice small, “Rosie.” She tells him softly from her curled from.

Felix nods slowly, glancing to Lilith, “Okay, she’s adorbs. I’m keeping her.”

Lilith frowns at him, her brow furrowing, “She’s not a fucking pet Felix.”

Felix shrugs, “I know that. But I’m still keeping her. She’s one of ours now, and nothing bad will happen to her.”

Rosie’s little face finally peeked back up at them, sniffling a little, “You.” She says softly, drawing the two battle mages face back to her, “You’re Sans’s girl.” She said softly.

Surprise flickered through Lilith, and her soul squeezes at his name and she finds herself speaking before she realizes what it is she has said, “Yeah. Yeah I am.”

Rosie nodded, suddenly a little braver as she uncurls from her ball, looking between the two battle mages. “He. He fought. They say he saved Captain Undyne. It’s what. He’s what gave us a chance.”

Dread fills Lilith, and emotion nearly chocks her. Sans can’t be dead. He can’t be, “What happened to him?”

Rosie is nervous and her wings twitch at her back, “When you went missing, the thing took him.” She nods to the vines that chock the walls of the Ruins, “But he saved the children. He saved Undyne.” And Lilith’s heart swells with pride, because yeah he did, “But the thing has been using him to bait the others. He lives, but he’s hurt.”

Lilith forced down her emotions, she can taste fear at the back of her tongue, but she swallows it back. Fear and hurt and anguish won’t serve her here, it never does. She taps into her rage, and it keeps her on her feet, “What happened here Rosie?”

Rosie looked up at Lilith, and the fear is so real Lilith can feel it, “The plant attacked. It started slowly but it’s been taking over the underground. Trying to catch monsters to give to the demon to keep its body alive. They aren’t killing the monsters, they want to use them as batteries, to fuel the demon.” Rosie looked down and a fresh cascade of tears fell down her little face, “Snowdin is the last strong hold, but the Queen can’t hold the magical shield much longer and once she falls that’s it.” She looks miserably at Felix and Lilith, “A few hours and it’s all over.”  

The mages all look up, grim and full of determination, and bravery, and patience, and kindness, and justice. Their magic hums between them, powerful and unstoppable; a true Den with a common goal and a united front.

“Well.” Sloan said lightly, her smile becoming sharp as she stares at her Den, “We can’t let this stand now can we?”

“Way I see it,” Felix adds too happily, “We’ve got four months of retribution to hit back with.”

Lilith’s mouth is a grim line, her eyes hard and magic sparks at her fingers, “We’ll never make it to Snowdin in time. Not by foot.”

Sloan snorts, already digging through her pack to pull a potion that is the same color as her magic, “I suspect we won’t.” she said mildly giving the potion a shake before she hands it for Lilith, “It’s best if we get our thermals on now. Snowdin is cold.”

She flashes a smirk to her sister, bright and vicious, and Lilith finds her soul easing, the taught band loosening. She had her Den here, she wasn’t alone.

The thermals are pulled on quickly enough, thicker winter clothing on top, and Felix settled Rosie at the apex of his zipper, so she could settle against his chest, leaching warmth.

Lilith rose a brow at her brother as she shakes the bottle Sloan had given her harder, making him shrug unapologetically, “What? We can’t leave her all alone here.”

Rolling her eyes, Lilith nods, after all what room does she have to stand on?

“All right Lilith,” Sloan says as she gently nudges her brothers and sisters into a loose circle, all of them facing inward, “For that to work you need to think of a place that you have been to before. Some place in Snowdin, some place that has meaning.” She reached out to Felix and Lola, taking their hands.

Felix reached for Ryder while Lola reached for Lilith’s free hand, squeezing hard as Sloan kept talking in a smooth, silky voice, “You need to remember exactly what it looks like. The feeing’s you have there. Focus on that, the emotion.”

Lilith closes her eyes, remembering the feeling of Snowdin, of Sans and Papyrus’s home. The feeling of Sans in her arms while she held him. Her breathing slows and she allows the protectiveness swell in her soul; he was here, somewhere. Waiting on her.

She remembers the brotherly feeling that she had with Papyrus, like he was one of her Den mates, _he is,_ and how much she loves Sans.

It startles her to admit how deeply she does love him, how badly she wants to find him, how she would move mountains to find him and if she had to tear the underground apart to find him she would.  

She can see their home, two stores, made from wood and the pirate flag. She knows the feeling of home is not because of the building but because of two skeletons that lived there, and she drops the jar to take Ryder’s hand to complete the circle.

Rosie gasps from Felix’s shirt, her little eyes wide as magic swirls around them in golds and reds. Blue and green and orange swirl around the Den as the glass smashes, the liquid inside turns to smoke, thick and black stretching within the circle of mages, pulling at their magic that sparkles around them.

The smoke is rippling and pushing and pulling; and Lilith keeps focusing on a two-story home and a pirate flag and the love she feels for Sans.

When her eyes snap open, the smoke has rippled into a circle at their feet, like a small pool of water and on the other side she can see Snowdin. There are monsters running, monsters are screaming and Toriel is doing her damndest to keep the flickering shield from falling.

Lilith grits her teeth when she sees a thick vine and fire smashing into the shield that is the only thing standing between Sans and Papyrus’s home, and certain destruction.

She can see Papyrus with Frisk and MK pulled tightly against him, and Undyne next to him looking grim, Mettaton looking shocked and afraid. Her people. Those were her people, and they were in danger.

Felix laughs, bitter and cruel, “They’re playing our song kids. Let’s join the dance.”

 Lilith’s eyes darken to the shade of blood, and her smile is just as cruel, just as excited, “Let’s kill this fucking thing.”

Felix laughs, and its deep and vicious, his eyes are molten with power and the demon’s face ripples over his own, “ _Champagne, cocaine, gasoline_ _, and most things in between._ ” Felix sings as he steps into the portal, falling through it.

Lilith follows, takin a breath as the cold wind from Snowdin hits them as the Den falls from the sky. There’s a moment of her stomach falling, and Lilith bends her knees just before she hits the ground, bemused that Frisk once thought their landings were like how superheroes would.

They aren’t heroes, not even close, not with their intent and high LV.  They land hard, snow thrown into the air as five mages drop into Snowdin, causing monsters to stall, some tripping and running into each other. The five mages stood, violent intent flickering off their bodies in snaps of magic and crackles of power.

The only noise they can hear is Toriel’s pained panting, she’s fallen to a knee, struggling to keep the shield up and she is the only one to not see five humans fall from the sky.

“ _This night is heating up_ _, Raise hell and turn it up, Saying "If you go out you might pass out in a drain pipe" Oh yeah, don't threaten me with a good time_.” Felix sings softly, his sneer wide and excited as he takes in Flowey’s massive form.

He laughs then, turning back to Lilith as she pushes herself to her feet, “What the fuck is that?” he all but mock as a heavy vine cracks the shield around them.

“Flowey.” Lilith hisses between gritted teeth, her eyes the color of blood as she drops her survival pack into the snow, the weapons bags next to it. She peels off her winter coat so she can move properly, and she doesn’t feel the cold. Not with the fury that burns under her skin, her magic his heavy at her fingers.

Felix laughs as he drops his pack into the snow, setting Rosie down onto it with the utmost care, wrapping his massive coat around her to dig through his weapons pack, “That is _literally_ the dumbest fucking thing I have ever seen. Looking at that fucking thing!” he spits, his words are cruel, but his eyes sparkle with excitement, “I can’t believe you dragged me down here to fucking kill the plant from little shop of horrors.”

Lilith settles the two short blades across her back, they’re heavier than she’s used to, but she settles them as she straps a mag holster to her hip. The 12 gauge is settled against her lower back as she picks up the M32 grenade launcher, “We need to kill it Felix.” She says coldly as she slings another, smaller pack of high explosives around her hips. The ammunition won’t last long, but it’ll do damage. 

Felix laughs, strapping dragon fire to his thigh before he does the same to Lilith’s, his eyes glimmering in the dim light, “Come on Death. Let’s go cause chaos.”

Monsters stare in shock, moving aside as Death and War wade into the chaos, power rippling from their small forms as _anticipation_ flicker from them.

“Lilith?” Papyrus’s voice is so small, so full of shock that Lilith almost misses it, and she pauses to look back at his shocked and horrified face.

It’s enough to knock Lilith from the killing edge and her eyes brighten back to crimson, and she hesitates. Papyrus takes a hesitant step forward even as Felix looks back his brow furrowed; his face softens and his mouth falls into an O of surprise when he feels it. A click, magic sliding into place alongside of his, of a _Den mate_.

His hands curl tighter around the grenade launcher before he forces himself to relax; and he knows. He knows he will murder the Flower for these people. His people. He turns with Lilith, the molten color of his eyes becoming soft gold, “Lili?”

The shield above them cracks, and magic is dissipating as Lilith takes a step towards them and she reaches up for Papyrus, when Sloan snaps at them, “Death! War!” her tattoo glows eerily dark blue as it shines _Pestilence._ “Later!” she hisses, and it seems to snap them both back to the killing edge.

In an instant their eyes are dark, their smiles full of malice and they are loose for battle. They turn away as one, and Papyrus goes to reach for Lilith; he’s stopped by Sloan, her hand painfully gentle on his elbow so that he can only watch Lilith and Felix stop by the edge of a shield.

Her voice is softer, kind and the storm in her eyes flash to cyan as dark blue magic spreads out under their feet, “Later.” She tells him, “We need to save Snowdin first. Then give her a reason to come back.”

The magic under their feet is soft, and swirls gentle patterns under their feet. The swirling patterns touch the soles of feet and shoes, glowing softly, filling anyone it touches with hope as _flowers_ sprout from the snow.

Papyrus gasps as bright orange lily’s take root, bright red poppies around Frisk’s little feet and yellow daisy’s around MK, “Who are you?”

Sloan pauses, and the softness is back, “Her brothers and sisters.” The shield flickers overhead, and Toriel is losing her grip on the magic. From where she stands, Sloan can feel the excitement from the battle mages, can see them toe the earth with anticipation.

Lola and Ryder take point on either side of Sloan as Papyrus’s eye lights flicker between them, “But. You don’t look alike.”

Sloan smiles, like she is delighted, “We are not bound by something as fleeting as blood. You feel it, right?” Papyrus’s face falls a little, and he looks uncomfortable. The shield flickers overhead, and the cyan darkens back to navy, “Later Papyrus. We’ll talk later.”

She turns away as he opens his mouth to something more, but Sloan is already giving orders, “Pandora.” Lola straightens up her shoulder pushed back, “The shield is about to fall. Let’s be ready with a new one.”

Lola’s eyes have darkened to a sickly dark green that is almost black, and she hesitates as she glances to Flowey, “What about that thing? It’ll attack the moment the shield falls.”   

Sloan sneers, insulted, “Please, like I can’t hold the line.” Hauntingly, her gaze narrows in on the vines that Flowey attacks with, “It has _children’s_ soul,” her patience soul pulses with power, “and it has no idea how to use that power.” Her smirk widens, “Let’s give him a lesson shall we?”

Lola’s smile is on the side of madness, her tattoo of _Pandora_ glows eerily from her wrist before she’s smoke and dust and she’s gone to plant her crystals.  

 Sloan glides after the battle mages to hold the line until the shield is ready to go up, and Sloan does not doubt that they will do it. Not with how finely they ride the killing edge, not with how their LV bubbles under their skin.

Something catches her eye, near one of the horrifying fleshy mandibles of the creature that is attacking Snowdin, “Famine?” Ryder hums an acknowledgement as Sloan comes to a stop next to Toriel, “Do you see the civilians?”

The sandy blonde head lifts and he squints in the distance to see a small fleck of brown fur. He sighs and nods, “Yeah, I see ‘em.”

“Good.” Sloan said firmly, “I want them back.”

Ryder nods, stuffs his hands in his pockets and glances to his sister, “Be safe.” Then with a frown, shimmers out of sight.

Sloan makes a noise at the back of her throat, rolling her eyes before they fall to Toriel, who is still struggling to keep the shield up. “Toriel?” the monster Queen looks desperately to the mage, her face pinching in pain and fear, “It’s time to let the shield to fall.”

Toriel struggled to keep it up, staring in shock at the mage next to her, “But.” She pants between her words, heavy and tired, “but my people…”

“They will be safe; we will not allow them to be harmed.” Sloan glanced to the battle mages, and how they crouched and were ready to charge in. Like wolves, and Sloan smirks, “Don’t you see how Death and War are chomping at the bit?” she nods to Lilith and Felix, bouncing on the balls of their feet, weapons heavy in their hands.

“Lilith?” she questions softly before soft, terrified green eyes look up at Sloan, “How is any of this possible?”

Sloan tilts her head, and her grin is cold, “Love is a funny thing. They have something that belongs to Lilith, and she will burn this world to get him back. So, let’s give her a healthy outlet. Drop the shield Toriel, you’ve done enough.”

Toriel panted hard, staring up with uncertainty at the spell caster and her ice-cold smile. In the end, exhaustion won out and Toriel collapsed into the snow, catching herself on her hand. The shield around Snowdin gave away and shattered; Sloan could hear the battle mages whoop of joy and excitement, could hear the citizens of Snowdin cry out in fear and she could feel her own soul pulse in time with her heart.

With a wide grin, Sloan rose a delicate hand up into the air and the wind changed direction; the dark blue magic that soaked into the ground rose up like a thick black tentacle, and Sloan sighed into the feeling of her magic. Of her power; a thick vine swung to crush her and Toriel, and with a flick of her wrist Sloan’s magic slammed into the vines.

Flowey screamed as it turned to ash, the vine melting as Sloan easily twisted her hands in the air, every vine met with thick, heavy magic that twisted around the vines and they bubble into ash. Pushing her hair back, Sloan grinned and stepped forward to hold the line between Flowey and Snowdin.

Felix laughed with glee as dust filled the air, and excitement filled Lilith; it had been _so long_ since they had been in battle, and war was easy for her.  As one, she and Felix lifted the M32’s and the dull _donk, donka, donk_ echoes hollowly in the underground as the high explosives slam into the left arm that hold Flowey’s massive bulk up.

There’s a roar of pain, followed by three more _donk, donka, donk,_ and explosions burst at what they think is his shoulder, crippling the creature. They walk forward, and in tandem snap the M32’s open and with a snap of their wrists the spent casings hit the ground still smoking, and their reloading.

“What…” Undyne’s voice is small and lost as she watches _Lilith_ fire off another lobby of explosives at the creature that has been attacking them for months, watches as her sister dissolves vines like it’s her job, “What the fuck is this?”

“Well,” a heavily accented voice rumbles near them, making them jump as the biggest human Undyne as ever seen shimmers into existence, so tall that _she_ must look up at him. His eyes are burnt orange, and he very gently sets Bonnie and her young daughter onto the ground next to them with the utmost gentleness, “Those are M32’s with high explosive rounds.”

He stands, turns partially to this Den and whistles sharply twice. Lilith half turns as Felix laughs, lobbing two more off at Flowey; Ryder lifts his hand, to which Lilith nods. When she turns back, she widens her stance and changes her attack, aiming for the fleshy mandible where Bonnie had been only moments ago.

Flowey’s cry of rage is lost to the _donk, donka, donk_ of weapons fire.

“But they’re running out of-offff!” the massive human grunts as Frisk throws herself at him, clinging tightly and sobbing so, so softly. Ryder eases the little girl up into his arms and locks her against his chest in a tight hug. “I’ve got you little icicle. I’ve got you.” He hugs her tightly, and sighs, “We’re here. Everything will be okay now.”

He mutters a small prayer in his mother tongue as another explosion rock the underground, haloing Ryder in fire and smoke.

“S-sure.” Undyne mutters, pointing at Sloan and the thick black tentacles she is twisting around, meeting every vine, every flash of fire, every fly Flowey throws at her, “What the fuck is that?”

There’s a scream of rage from Lilith as the ammunition runs dry, and Felix laughs at her. They can see her small form charging as Felix falls back to reload; Ryder turns unhurriedly and shrugs, “It’s an intent spell. Sloan has a master level control over her intent, can pour it into her magic, can weaponize it. If the will to protect you is there, flowers bloom.”  He nods at their feet and the unnatural flowers that are blooming, “If she’s looking to kill you?” he nods to the twisting mass, and only then can Undyne see how the vines bubble and spoil, moments before they turn to dust. Almost like rot.

“There’s a reason we call her Pestilence.” Ryder shrugged as Felix came jogging back, his eyes bright and his smile cheerful.

He drops the weapons next to their bags, and opens his arms wide, “Frisk!” he nearly shouts, pulling the child from Ryder to squeeze against his own chest, “Oh kiddo, what have you gotten us into hmm?”

A small, mournful face tipped up to her big brother, tears in her eyes. Felix grins down at her, wiping the tears away, “Well, fun I’d say at the least. Don’t worry kiddo, it’s all okay now.”

Pushing away from his chest, misery pinches at Frisk’s little face and her hands tremble when she lifts them, _“They have Sans.”_

Behind her brothers, an ice blade slams into the middle of the screen that makes up Flowey’s face, freezing the screen, his horrified face still within; Frisk could see Lilith fling herself after the blade.

Her whole-body arches with the attack, the blade made of fire held high over head as she put her entire body weight into the attack and slammed the second blade into the icy surface. Flowey screamed as the frozen screen was flash heated and shattered.      

Lilith makes a grab for the icy blade and traces away. She lands on a writhing vine, using gravity disk to ride it like a surfer before she sinks the ice blade into the writhing mass; it freezes under her feet even as she slides the blade home into its sheath.

Her brothers and baby sister watch as Lilith, with a far better vantage point, opens fire with the 12 gauge into the gaping maw of Flowey’s face. 

Felix and Ryder blink at the savagery that Lilith didn’t balk at.

“Yeah.” Felix says slowly, “Lilith knows. She isn’t happy about it.” Ryder shifts so they are shoulder to shoulder, blocking Frisk’s vision of the battle behind her.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get him.” Ryder reassured his smallest sister, patting her head gently with his massive hand.

Felix nods in agreement, as their magic settles around them a little more thoroughly. Frisk’s hands still tremble when she lifts them, _“We have to get the souls back from him. It’s the only way.”_

War and Famine glance over their shoulders and glare, eyes hard and full of blood lust but they soften when they turn back to Frisk. “He’s got Kindness, Patience and Bravery, right?” Felix askes, and when Frisk nods, so does he.

He eases Frisk from his chest to hand her back to Papyrus, “Well then.” Felix says brightly, “Let’s go rip the souls out by the roots!”

He then turned with a hum of a poppy surface song that the monsters don’t know, and Frisk clings to Papyrus.

Ryder turns to Papyrus, his mouth opening to say something when his teeth snap shut and he goes red. Bright orange eyes look down and Ryder clears his throat, “Umm. Th-.” he clears his throat again, “Please take care of Frisk.” He mutters, unable to meet Papyrus’s eye-lights.

Blinking at him, confusion swells but Papyrus still holds Frisk close to his chest, “Of. Of course.”

Felix is crouched low, babbling to Rosie as he reloads the M32’s, stuffing extra explosives into any space he can find, when he hears Ryder stutter a thank you, he tilts his head back and frowns at his massive brother.

Gold eyes glance to Papyrus, sweet, innocent and super confused and back to the hulking assassin that is his brother and his beat red face. Felix rolled his eyes, pushing himself to stand as magic and spent castings covered the snow on the outskirts of Snowdin, “Oh for fuck sakes.” He snaps, making Ryder twitch.

“What!” he snaps at Felix begins to walk back to the battlefield, shaking his head at his brother.

“Seriously!” he snaps back, giving Papyrus a very pointed look, “Dude?” he shakes his head at his brothers very red face before he spun away muttering under his breath about his siblings, “Lilith might kill you.” He calls over his shoulder, wading back into the thick of it with another _donk, donka, donk_.

Ryder glares after his younger brother but he softens when he looks at Papyrus’s confused face. Shouldering his rifle, Ryder clears his throat again, “Thank you. For. Um. Taking care of Frisk.”

Papyrus nods, his smile a little easer despite everything, “You are welcome….” He pauses, his head tilting, “What is your name?”

Shifting, Ryder glances away, “Ryder.”

Papyrus beams at him, and Ryder melts ever so slightly, and yup, he’s in trouble. His Den mother always said he had a soft spot for the soft ones, “Thank you for coming to help us Ryder.” He glances over his shoulder and grimaces, “Although Lilith’s methods are a little…explode-y they are affective.”

It brings a small smile to Ryder’s face, and he chuckles, “I. Yeah. Um.”

“RYDER!” Sloan is yelling for him, and he can see the battle mages pumping explosives into Flowey, and he knows his time is up.

“It’s going to be okay Papyrus.” He says slowly, backing away from the tall skeleton, “We’ll find your brother.” He promises.

Papyrus’s head tilts, and he frowns, “How do you know my name?”

Ryder can’t help but let the smile curl a little more on his lips, and he allows himself a moment longer, “Magic.” He answers, then he’s gone. Traced away, and back into battle.

He’s suddenly up high with Lilith, his rifle shouldered and opening fire into the dark, expanse of Flowey’s face and he buries the soft, dangerous feelings under a layer of ice. He risks a glance to Lilith, and he sees her rage, sees her hurt that she can’t quite choke, and maybe he gets it just a little more.

-

Lola returns to Lilith’s cluster of friends just in time to see her brothers and sister concentrating their fire power at what was once Flowey’s face, gaining ground with every step, with every brutal push. There’s a moment when her control slips, and her soul swells in pain at the war before her; her kindness soul aching at the destruction, grieves at her sister’s pain, at the pain that is so thick in the underground.

She buries it under a layer of hate, and she digs deep for her vice. They don’t have time for her too feel sad and hurt about this situation, not when so many lives where on the line. Kindness was not weakness, but the creature that hurt Lilith, that hurt Sans, would take advantage of it.

Or at least they’d try.

Darkness fills her and Lola takes her staff in hand, slamming the bottom into the ground and she presses her magic into the gem at the top; her staff is nearly as tall as her, made of polished wood from an old Oak tree, the twisted design long and delicate, snaring the green crystal at the top.

Lola’s well of magic is tragically shallow, she isn’t the powerhouse of magic that her brothers and sisters are, but that doesn’t matter.  She knows how to amplify her magic; she knows how to spend it wisely. She knows how to restrain herself in a way that her family doesn’t have to dream about and use everything around her to her advantage.

A few drops of magic is all it takes, amplified by the crystal at the top of her staff and the six that she had planted around Snowdin to create a loose circle; they can push it forward and adjust as they need to, right now the town proper needs defending.

Magic ripples around them, hot and protective, the magic that is amplified from the stone reaches out to the six hidden within Snowdin, reacting hotly as a shield, thick with heavy magic, begins to click into place like pixels on a screen. Raising high and heavy, snapping around Snowdin solidly.

Releasing the staff, Lola cracks her neck and flexes her fingers. She glances to the monsters who have become Lilith and Frisk’s friends, and she feels old magic click solidly in place. For a moment, Lola stares at them, slack jawed and in awe when the ground shakes with violent magic, reminding her that they are in a fight.

Pushing her hope down, Lola unhooks her bow, and it shimmers gold, arrows sparkling just out of sight.

With one last look at them, Lola nods and charges into battle; they have souls to reap.

**-**

Undyne watches as five, magically charged humans stand between the creature that deemed them worthless enough to murder and the town of Snowdin. They fight hard, and they fight well. Human weaponry bangs and blasts in their hands; magic is thrown with painful ease or shot from an bow that shimmers like light. Blades of fire and ice dance among the chaos as the hack their way through vines and magic.

She watches as they stand together, protecting and defending each other as readily as they stood between the creature and Snowdin and the plants attacks crash and burn on their defenses. They’re formidable and vicious, and as she watches Lilith fight she remembers how Sans watched her with pride and love.

Undyne squirms uncomfortably, and for a moment feels guilty. She knows that the demon and the thing before them has Sans, has been using him to bait Papyrus past Toriel’s shield and she knows that Sans is fighting.

Her hands clench in front of her, her armor clanking heavily as she shifts. Undyne had been surprised by Sans grit, by his refusal to bend and didn’t think he’d had it in him. It made sense, Undyne had thought on the cold, lonely nights when she was terrified for Alphys. He was hanging on for the mage, they’d both seen her fall into nothingness, thought she’d be dead by now, but Sans never gave up hope that she’d come back.

Undyne watched as the creepy one with gold eyes flash freezes a vine with a battle axe that crystalizes the soft snow around Snowdin; he laughs merrily as he breaks the vine, tossing it to Lilith as though it weighs nothing.

She watches as Lilith, _Sans’s girl_ , catches that same frozen vine and hurls the frozen point at the plant that attacks them. It goes through a tube-like aperture near his head, and Undyne sees a flash of bright orange of a soul.       

Undyne’s eye goes wide, and with a wild glance to Papyrus and Frisk, she makes a choice. Lilith somehow got home, and she could have stayed there but didn’t. Kid sister or not, she came back to fight in a war that wasn’t hers and brought a vicious Den of mages to bring the war to their door.

She’s running before she’s even aware of it, charging at the plant with a snarl. She can hear the Queen and Papyrus yelling for her to stop, but she ignores them and charges after the mages.

It’s the weird one who sees her first, and with a maniacal laugh he sides steps a vine that is suddenly speeding towards her; his axe cuts through it like a hot knife through butter and Undyne charges through dust as the vine disappears.

“Oh Death!” he practically sings, and Lilith turns. Her eyes are dark with rage, nearly stall Undyne at the depth of her fury. Her head tilts, and her smile is wrong on her cold face.

Undyne smothers her unease, and she changes direction to run at the mage, “Need a lift!” she shouts at Lilith.

Lilith side steps a blast of fire, her eyes the color of blood as drills suddenly shoot up through Flowey’s body, and he thrashes to get off the spinning drills. As though she hadn’t just brutally attacked the monster at her back, Lilith squared up with Undyne and takes a knee; heavy magic spins in front of her, the gravity spell is powerful as she draws power in from the deepest part of her well.

Undyne doesn’t hesitate, she charges, getting a food solidly on the disk; with barley a grunt of effort Lilith is shoving Undyne’s heavy weight upward, flinging her towards the Bravery soul. It’s then that Undyne realizes that in a true fight, where Lilith left her morals behind, Undyne would likely not have fared well.

Her laugh is as dark as the mage’s as she summons a spear in her hand, suddenly feeling more hope than she had in nearly four months; after all, these dangerous creatures were on _their_ side.

Undyne lands heavily on the top of the creature’s head and she reaches in for the Bravery soul. It’s warm in her hands, fluttering wildly and she feels a pulse of gratitude and for a wild moment, she thinks to keep it.

Instead, she tucks it against her side as Fowey screams and writhes; he loses mass and is shrinking even before Undyne is hitting the ground, rolling away.

The little soul glimmers in her hands, soft and full of the same Bravery that feels like Ryder, but pure in a way that only a child could. It flashes in her hands before it gone, and for a moment Undyne feels grief; all their hopes and dreams are gone with that tiny soul.

Maybe it was the wind, or the odd echoing of explosions in the in the cave, but Undyne swears she can hear _thank you_ whispered into her ear and she feels warm despite the horror around her.

There’s a moment in that distraction, that Flowey takes a swing at her and Undyne can hear Lilith screaming her name; and Undyne would be fine with this being her swan song. At least she did something worthy before she died, when the tiniest mage appeared in front of her from a ball of smoke and stars.  

Her hands are splayed, her face impassive as she summons the shield and the vines bounces off it harmlessly.

Undyne stands easily head and shoulders over the small women before her, and she blinks down at the mage that had stopped an attack that surely would have killed her, “Umm. Thanks.” She said quietly, and the hard façade cracks a little as the mage smiles brightly up at her.

“You’re welcome!” she chirps happily, and there is a rumbling from Flowey, and Undyne misses the chance to ask her what her name is.

Working in tandem Lilith and her weird brother are hammering the top of Flowey’s head, destroying the tubes that coil tightly around the tip of his head, to rip the Patient soul from his body; it’s a brutal act, harsh and vicious.

Yet, when the golden eye’d mage hits the ground, with the small soul fluttering in his hands he smiles down at it, his face soft as it flutters out of existence. Undyne knows that she should feel guilty at seeing the soul disappears, moving on to whatever is next, but she doesn’t. Not when Flowey screams and howls, writhing and dissolving into a ball of vines and dust.

The golden eye’d mage is smiling again, and it sends a shiver down Undyne’s spine; he and Lilith are gearing up for a final assault, and Undyne is certain they will tare Flowey’s body apart to get at the Kindness soul.

The mage before her frowns suddenly, her head tilting as though she can hear something the others can’t. The darkness from her eyes brightens to an emerald green and her brows furrow, and she walks to the writhing ball of vines as though in a trance.

“Hey! Hey wait!” Undyne shouts at her, going to reach for her but her hand hits a solid shield like the one that saved her.

“Lola!” Someone screams, the mage with gold eyes, “Lola stop!”

Lilith is charging, dodging magic, rushing at her sister, hand out reached to stop her when she slams into the same shield that stops Undyne. There’s a moment of panic in her eyes as she slams her fist against the shield, “Lola! Lola stop! Don’t!”   

Lola ignores their pleas, her emerald eyes wide and focused as she glides to the ball of vines, “It’s okay.” She calls out to it. “I can hear you. It’s okay now. You mustn’t be afraid. Everything is okay now, just take my hand.”

The gold eye’d mage slams his axes into the shield, and they don’t even crack. The one that was tossing magic like it was snow balls, stops next to Lilith, and they watch in horror as the mage reaches into the writhing ball of vines, watches as they fall to dust and she pulls out a child, no older than Frisk.

Undyne is horrified when the mage dusts off Prince Asriel as the massive body behind him falls slowly to dust. She’s vaguely aware of Queen Toriel’s cry of pain at seeing her son, and Lilith’s roar of rage at the loss of her vengeance.

Undyne doesn’t know how to feel, but she can see the small, green human soul pulse merrily within his chest before it fades away, pleased as punch to give a second chance to one of the original fallen children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really went back and forth with what I was going to to with Asriel and how his story would end in this arc. I surprised myself when Lola pulled him from the ashes that was Flowey with the help of the Kindness soul, but I thought he deserved a second chance. After all Asriel is not Flowey, but has to now live with what he did when he was Flowey and especially what he did to Sans.


	20. Wash, Rinse, Repeat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They'll always find each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello dear readers, 
> 
> Well, its time. We find out what's been happening to Sans.
> 
> Enjoy!

Sloan sighs as she sits at the table inside of the only restaurant in town, her eyes watchful as she glances to Lilith. Her sister is still full of rage, rightfully so, as she glares coldly at the child next to Queen Toriel.

She still blamed him for his part in what had happened to Sans, he had after all held the monster that held Lilith’s affection down and rendered helpless before cruel hands. He had been an active participant in what Chara and Oliva had done to him, was the cause of their current predicament, or at least some part of him was.

The child before her was drawn inward and sobbing, clinging to his mother with broken apologies. The Queen has her son pulled tightly to her side, speaking in a hushed, reassuring voice that everything is aright, even in the light of a powerful battle mage’s hatred.   

“Lilith.” Sloan’s voice is soothing from her spot at the round table, Ryder is next to her with Frisk and MK in his lap and easily able to get out of the way and shield Frisk and MK should Lilith’s shaky hold on her LV snap and she make a play for the Princess life. Honestly, Sloan gets it, she does. She isn’t sure herself if she would be able to hold back in the face of a loved one’s abuser and quietly she marvels at her sister’s control.

“Lilith.” She says again, drawing that fury to herself, but Sloan knows her sister well enough that it doesn’t caught a shiver down her spine. Felix is still transfixed on the Prince, and Sloan knows if Lilith snaps, Felix will be right behind her and nothing in hell or heaven will stop them from murdering the prince, “If you cannot cool your emotions, leave.”

The snarl is already rumbling from her throat, her eyes flicking black from blood red and Toriel is already raising to her son’s defense, “That wasn’t him! It’s not Asriel’s fault!”

Lilith stands so quickly the chair at her back tips over and she slams her fists into the table hard enough to crack it, “ _He held him down!”_ everyone flinches back, even Toriel, in the face of Death’s fury.

Felix shifts behind her, and Sloan can see how he’s getting ready to strike, to back his sister consequences be damned, family above all else. Sloan sighs inwardly and presses a hand to her sister’s shoulder to stall her, “Lilith. We have yet to determine if Asriel knew what he was doing. If he and ‘Flowey’ are two separate entities or one. But we have a chance here.”

Lilith sneers, baring her teeth, while magic crackles violently at her fingers, and Sloan knows her sister is too angry to see the bigger picture, “He knows what Chara’s plan is. He knows where Sans is.”

It’s not what Lilith wants, not even close but it’s enough for her to stand down and lean back. She flips her chair back up to sink slowly into it, back straight and she thumbs the Glock at her side. Sloan doesn’t relax, not in the least, but it’s enough for Lilith to gain control.

“I think.” Sloan said softly, looking at the faces of new friends and Den mates, of monsters, and strives for calm, “Introductions are in order. Let’s start there.” Her dark eyes glance to her sister, before settling back to Toriel. “Then we can discuss how we are going to kill Chara.”

“But!” Toriel’s eyes are wide and frightened, but Sloan is already shaking her head, her hand firm on Lilith’s shoulder as she moves to rise again.

“I can make an argument to spare his life because I’m uncertain that he and the creature we fought are one in the same. I cannot make the same argument for Chara. She knowingly harmed a Den mate.” She glanced to Papyrus and Undyne with a frown, “Den mates.” She corrected. “She harmed a battle mage’s mate, no power in this world or any other will stop Lilith from ending her. It is as simple as that.” She glanced to her sister before firmly focusing on Toriel, “Besides, she harmed one of ours. If Lilith doesn’t get the opportunity to kill her, one of us will.”

Toriel’s mouth opens, but it’s Undyne who shakes her head no, “No. The mages are right. I saw.” She pauses and hurt flashes over her face, “I saw what they did to Sans. That’s not your kid Tor…your Majesty.” Undyne sighed heavily, “It needs to die.”  

Greif rocks Toriel, and she clings to Asriel as great tears fill her eyes.

Undyne sighs heavily, glancing around the table at the assembled mages and monsters, and knows they won’t have a better chance to save everyone, and her guilt hits her hard. This is her only chance to save Alphys, “I’m Undyne. Captain of the Royal Guard.”

Sloan nods, “Sloan, spell caster of the Pandora Den.”

“Felix, battle mage of the Pandora Den.”

“Papyrus, I…” his voice is so small and sad, that it knocks Lilith back from the killing edge just enough. Her hand lands on his shoulder and she squeezes in what she hopes is comfort. “I’m Sans’s little brother. And I am. I am very worried.”

“It’s going to be okay Paps.” Lilith says quietly, her eyes turning from blood red to crimson, “We’re going to find him.”

“Ryder, Illusionist of the Pandora Den.” The massive mage rumbled, adjusting the two children in his lap.       

“Lola, shield maiden of the Pandora Den.”

“Mettaton.” Even he is subdued and sad, twisting his fingers in worry and fear. He looks up, brows pulling, “Why are you called the Pandora Den?”

Sloan smiles, and it’s not nearly as cruel as it had been, “We are named after one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Except Lola, who can make shields that can contain us, like Pandora’s box.” She lifts a shoulder in a weak shrug, “Our Coven leaders think they’re funny.” 

Confusion still flickers over Mettaton’s face, but he nods slowly.

Pleasantly, Sloan looks at the last monster in the room, “And you are?”

“Grillby.” He said quietly, “I’m Sans friend.”

Sloan nods again, her eyes flashing cyan. “Good. Now we’re all friends. Now, “and suddenly she’s all business, and the Den straighten up to await orders, “we have very little time to learn to work together. If we are to take back the Kingdom and kill the demon, we will need to.”

Those deep, intelligent cyan orbs swung back to Asriel. Her smile was pleasant, but her words where cold, “Now Princeling. Let’s make your pound of flesh worth it.” Toriel growls over her son, and it’s met by Lilith’s, “Your friend has Sans. Lilith wants him back, which means I will ensure he is delivered to her. Where is he?”  

Taking a breath, Asriel’s voice is soft but shaky, “The Capital. That’s where Chara is brining all the monsters I…Flowey caught.”

Lilith sneers, and suddenly Papyrus’s hand is in hers, and it calms her.  

Sloan nods, “Good. Is he hurt?”

Looking down Asriel nods despite Lilith’s growl, and he shivers, “Yes. He. Chara. He.” Tears fill his eyes, and as Lilith rises to yell, Felix and Papyrus grab at her elbows to draw her back down. Her face is pulled into rage and hurt, and her mouth pulled into a grim line.

“How is he hurt?” Sloan asks softly, they need to know if he can be moved without endangering him.

Squirming, Asriel keeps his eyes down, “Chara has been absorbing magic from him, it’s left him pretty hurt and tired. Weak. Chara’s…” he pauses giving Lilith an uncertain look, at the fury in her face, before looking down to continue, “Chara’s been breaking is bones to absorb his magic as he heals. She’s too weak to do much else, the soul she took is fighting her.”

“Has she given Sans back to Oliva?” Lilith’s voice is hard and cold, her fury barley contained.

Asriel flinches, “No. Sans has the deepest well of magic and Chara is afraid that she’ll kill him,” and that’s enough for Lilith to relax a little, “But he hasn’t healed from it. Emotionally, he’s a mess.”

“Gee.” Lilith sneered, “I wonder why?”

Asriel hunches down, and opens his mouth to offer apologies, but thinks better of it. No, the mage wants her mate back and only that will sooth her, “But Chara’s using it. Using his memoires to hurt him. She can pull them up, making him think he’s somewhere else, with someone else.” Hesitant eyes lift with a sigh, “Makes him think he’s with you, just so she can watch him hurt when he realizes he’s still in the Castle.”

Fury burns at Lilith’s soul as panic and worry war. It’s easy to endure with rage, so she clings to that, “That’s fucking great.” She spits, “How do we get him back?”

Asriel looks down, unable to meet her anger, her fear, “I don’t know.”

Lilith opens her mouth, her eyes snap black with fury, when the door slams open and one of the Buns shouts, “There’s something in the woods by the entrance to Waterfall.”

Good, Lilith needs another fight. With a huff, she picks up her 12 Gauge and slings it over her shoulder, “Then what fucking good are you?” she stalks from the room, ignoring the looks of pain and regret on the child’s face. She’d rather deal with whatever as turned up at their doorstep anyways.

-

He heard the footsteps long before Chara burst into the cell, and Sans _grinned_.

He could feel her anger before she even opened the door, could practically taste it in the air and despite the broken ribs, it brought Sans joy to know something had gotten under Chara’s skin.

The door to the cell was shoved open angrily, and Sans took a deep, pleasant breath of fresh air before Chara stalked in and the stench of rot filled the tight space.

She grits her teeth, her body melting as she glowered down at him, the soul of Perseverance fighting hard against Chara’s hold, weakening the demon a little more, rendering her unable to use the power she so easily used when they sent Lilith to the void. His soul pulses painful at the thought of the mage and _don’t think about Lilith_ fills his head. It hurt too much to think about her, lost and alone in the void. He had to find a way, he had to get out. He had to hang on.

Oliva is hesitant behind Chara; purple eyes drawn downward as she fiddled with her fingers and grinds her teeth.

Despite how sick he feels, despite how his body aches with the pain from broken bones from where Chara has been syphoning magic from him, despite how emotionally drained he feels, Sans smirks. His control hand was broken, the bones of his wrist have shattered and healed wrong to leave his hand all but useless. If he focused he might have been able to summon magic, but it would be a fleeting thing. One of many injuries that he tried to manage on his own in a damp, cold cell that made his magic ache and he was sure he was sick; broken ribs, he had a nice new scar across part of his nasal structure that ran down the side of his face, at least three of his phalange where broken on his other hand and he was certain the crack in his femur wasn’t healing right. 

Despite all that, despite everything, San grinned cruelly at Chara, drawing on his deep well of magic as the Judge to be catty, “What’s wrong candle stick? Something go wrong?”

She slapped him hard enough to send his head lolling in the other direction with a sharp noise, but Sans had quickly learned to roll with the strikes to take the sting out a little.

Her outburst makes his smirk widen, and he slowly rolls his skull on his neck to grin at her. She isn’t breaking him, he knows it, not when he has had to cling to his sanity to get out of here. He needs to find Lilith in the void, and he needs to be sane to do it. So, he holds on for all he’s worth, even when he knows how easy it would be to just give up. He could do it, just surrender everything and give up.

Yet, he pushes through it and holds on.

“Guess so.” He all but mocks, his smirk wide and cruel, “What happen? Someone piss in your MTT-O’s?”

Rage flickers over Chara’s face and she loses her hold on her new, rotting body that droops when she loosens that control and Sans _knows_ something has happened. That something has changed, and she is furious at it. Sans blinks slowly at her, before his smirk grows.

There’s only one person who would have brought that much anger out of Chara, “She escaped, didn’t she?”

Sans laughed, bitter and wrong as Chara grinds her teeth and hate fills her, her hands balling into fists of rage. Sans feels a heaviness loosen from his soul, it eases away, because if Lilith escaped the void, she was coming for him. His eye-lights faded away, and his grin is dark, “You’re going to die.”

He laughed when Chara slapped him again, opening a wound that has him spitting clotted magic to the dirty floor between them.

“Chara.” Oliva’s voice was small and hesitant, and so very afraid.

Sans smirk is vicious and cruel when he directs it at Oliva, “You too. She’s coming for you Oliva and you’re going to die.” She flinches away and Sans feels a bolt of victory; she should be afraid of what’s coming.

“Chara, we lost Flowey, I don’t think this is a good idea.” Oliva pushes on, ignoring his words to look at Chara.

“Shut up.” She hissed back, dead eyes still staring at him darkly, her mouth pulled into a grim line of bitterness, “We don’t have a choice, she won’t touch him and by the time he realizes what he’s done she’ll be dead.”

Sans frowns a little, ignoring the pains in his body, shifting against the wall at his back. Oliva wrings her hands, “But you said I could have him. When he released Flowey you said.”

Magic, thick and black is gathering at Chara’s fingertips, and she doesn’t look at Oliva, “Shut. Up.” She says again slowly, walking leisurely towards Sans.

He sighs and doesn’t bother to draw away; he knows what’s about to happen. She’s going to drum up some terrible memory to hurt him with, just to make him writhe. Just to see if she can make him cry; he had been horrified when she had discovered it was actually the soft memories of Papyrus and Lilith that hurt him the most. Memories of his brother scoffing at his puns, or the mages gentle hold around him were the only important thing that brought tears to his eyes with loss.

It was the soft memories that made him forget what was happening, where he was and how long he had been there. He wanted to be with them again, with his family and the mage that he was certain he lo…liked. They loved him despite how bruised he was, how soiled he was. They loved him even if he was filthy, they loved him still. Even if he was broken, they loved him.  

Sans cringed as Chara pressed her fingers against his forehead, her touch cold like something dead, and he plunged into a memory of a golden hallway; he heard Chara laugh, her voice cold, “Come on Oliva, let’s have a trip to Snowdin.”

-

Fury rips through Lilith and she sees red. Monsters scramble out of her way, even the Royal Guard stop and give her a wide berth. Coming to the edge of the shield that glows a bright, healthy green, Lilith comes to a stop next to RG01 and RG02.   

“Situation?” her words are cold and clipped, her rage just beneath the surface.

The two guards’ men jump, shift and shuffle, stumbling over each other’s words, both starting and stopping, stumbling over their words. Lilith’s glower is hot, and she grits her teeth and snarls at them; they’re saved from her anger by Felix.

Slinging his arm over his sister’s shoulders, Felix gives them an easy grin as he and Papyrus slide up on either side of her. Seeing Papyrus is enough to cool most of Lilith’s anger to a manageable simmer. “Heya boys. Let’s all cool it, shall we? Can ya tell us what’s got the buns all hopp’n mad?”

Rosie giggles from his jacket and Papyrus sighs in annoyance despite himself.

RG02 shifts, fidgeting in place before he points into the fog, “Well. It’s that Mr. Felix mage sir.”

Felix gives him a delighted look at being called ‘sir’, but Lilith looks off into the distance, squinting at what they see stumbling through the fog.

“Is somebody hurt?” Papyrus asks softly, trying to see, looking at the small, stumbling form as Ryder, Frisk and MK join them.   

They are squinting into the thick fog, when suddenly it dawns on Lilith recognizes the small, slight form in the distance. Her soul goes cold to see him stumble, and she is blown away from the killing edge. It’s only because of years of being at war that keep her on her feet and Lilith’s knees don’t give out, even as her breath hitches.

It’s that tiny noise that draws Felix’s concerned look as Lilith shoves him off her, “It’s Sans.” Lilith all but whispers, distantly she can hear Papyrus gasp.

Felix face falls from concerned to full blown panic when Lilith pushes forward, arms swinging in time with her steps as she stalks forward towards Sans. Papyrus goes to move with her, stopped by Ryder’s gentle hand on his shoulder and his voice is pitched low as the mage whispers to him to wait. To let Lilith handle this, much to the distress of the skeleton.

“Lilith wait!” Felix tries, reaching for her but his hand is shaken off, and Lilith shakes her head no.

 “It’s Sans!” she breaths hard, and for a moment all her panic and fear chock her. “I won’t leave him Felix. Not. Again.”

Felix paused eyes molten gold, and they flicker to Sans, “Lilith, this is too easy. Something’s wrong.” He glances around through the fog his eyes narrowing, “It’s a trap Lilith.

Lilith snarls as tuns to him, and Felix shakes his head no, “No sis. Really, this isn’t just a Star Wars reference, this is literally a trap. Something’s wrong here. It’s too easy.” He glances at her before he glances back to Sans stumbling in the snow, “You know it too.”

For a long, tense moment, Lilith glowers at her brother before she relaxes under his hand and nod, “I do. I know. But I can’t. I _won’t_ leave him again. I need to try, even if it’s a trap.”  

Glancing to Sans, Felix huffs a sigh, his breath hanging in the air as his mouth pulls into a grim line of anger, “All right.” He says slowly, despite the anger in Lilith’s eyes and she wants to go, “All right.” Slowly, so very slowly, Felix lets his sister go, one slow finger at a time.

Then he squares up with her, hands on her shoulders and the grimness of his face falls into amusement, “Go get your boyfriend.” Lilith opens her mouth to protest, its automatic and a lie that Felix doesn’t let her finish, “And when you trigger whatever shitty trap this is, I’ll be right there.”

Slowly, Lilith nods as Felix steps out of her way and he watches his sister walk past the shield and into a fight. He unholsters battle axes and plays with the handles idly, waiting for the moment Lilith would need him.

He smirks; his sister loves this monster, and he would burn this world to the ground to return him to her.

-

The snow is colder beyond the shield. The wind bites harder, like knives that shred your clothing and Lilith feels none of it. Not with how heavily she pulls on her magic and her body burns with magic.

The snow crunches under her boots, but she ignores it all, focusing solely on Sans and as he draws near Lilith can see how hurt he is. How he stumbles, how he bleeds. There’s a new scar scored into the bone, across his nasal structure. She sees how his hand is a mangled mess of bones and damage that drips marrow.

She feels unease twist in her chest as she stares at the dark, black _nothingness_ of Sans’s eyes. There is no friendly eye-lights, just dark, cold nothing, and as they both come to a stop, far enough away that she could dodge should either of them need it and Lilith feels dread. Cold, slick dread down the back of her neck that chills her to her soul.

She knows somethings wrong, and it makes her heart sick.

Still, her voice is stead when she calls his name, “Sans?”

He doesn’t see her, doesn’t see Lilith, “Birds are singing.” His voice is flat and dead, and Lilith’s eyes go wide, “Flowers are blooming.” Unease fills Lilith as old, old horrific memories that belong to Frisk fill her, and Lilith takes a step back, “And on days like this, kids like you should be burring in H E L L.”

“Sans?” Lilith’s voice is confused, and three hundred years of war don’t prepare her for the bone that shoots up from the ground to pierce her through the chest.

Confusion hits Lilith hard as she continues to stare at Sans, the monster she loves, as he stares at her blankly. She doesn’t feel the agony she knows she should, she is aware at least distantly that this should hurt and that she should be crippled by pain, but all she can feel is shock. Lilith coughs, blood dripping down her chin as she stares at Sans, and it finally occurs to her that he doesn’t see her. He doesn’t know where he is, and Lilith curses herself when she remembers Asriel’s words, how Chara used memories to hurt Sans.  

Lilith can’t move as the four Gaster blasters surround her, and she slides down the bone in her chest, struggling to breath as she leaves a slick bloody mess along the weapon as her knees hit the ground. She can hear Felix screaming, and she knows that this was not the trap they were expecting.

She doesn’t feel anything at all, not regret, not betrayal, not even the pain in her lungs as she chokes on her own blood. There’s nothing as Lilith stares at Sans, and she can’t be angry at him.

There’s a flash of magic and for a moment Lilith can smell the burning of her own flesh, then there is a flash of a light…

….

….and Lilith is walking back out to meet Sans.

The snow is colder beyond the shield. The wind bites harder, like knives that shred your clothing and Lilith feels none of it. Not with how heavily she pulls on her magic and her body burns with magic.

There’s a sickening sense of déjà vu that has Lilith slowing to a stop, her brows knitting in confusion and she takes a step back behind the line of the shield. 

This isn’t right, this is wrong and every instinct in her is screaming for a tactical retreat. She needs to gather more information; she’s missing something very important that will decide the outcome of this fight.

She takes another step back and her guts churn as she turns back to Felix. Her own confused face meets his, “Lili?” the amount of uncertainty in his voice is staggering and Lilith shakes her head no at him. She can’t explain it, but she _knows_ something is wrong.

She turns away from Felix a little more, her confusion settling into unease as she finally falls to Frisk’s terrified, horrified little face and Lilith sighs. She knows in her soul what happened, even if her body doesn’t. She knows how this will end if she continues on the same path, even if she doesn’t know _how._

Her body may not remember its death, but her soul does and so does Frisk.

“I died, didn’t I?” she asks her sister softly, needing confirmation, and can nearly taste Felix’s horror when Frisk’s little tear stained face nods yes.

Lilith sighs again, glancing out to where Sans has come to a stop. Even from this distance, she can see the blank look in his eyes, like no one is home. Nodding, Lilith turns back to Frisk, “How?” her tone is flat, but her eyes blaze like hell fire.

With tears in her eyes, Frisk recounts her sister’s death to all who dare know and Lilith’s face becomes like stone. Impassive and hard as crimson eyes flash to where Sans waits for her beyond the shield.

Lilith takes a deep breath, and knows she needs to make a move. “There needs to be a way to save him.” She says simply, voice flat but her soul flares with determination.

Felix sneers, crossing his arms over his chest, “Yeah, twenty-two rounds of super powered attacks.”

Lilith’s stone like face finally breaks as she smirks, and its sharp and cruel, sitting wrong on her face, “Yeah. But it’s not so bad.” Not when the reward is Sans. She hopes.

Summoning her swords, Lilith steps out into the too cold world beyond the shield and marches out to meet Sans head on.

She comes to a stop once again, and calls his name, “Sans?”

His voice is cold and dead, “Birds are singing, flowers are blooming. And on days like this, kids like you should be burning in H E L L.”

Lilith is ready as she dances out of the way of the wave of bones and the blaster fire; cheekily she lands on top of a bone that tried to spear her soul, a gravity disk keeping her just above it, “Love? Come on, its me.” She tried as she Checks him.

Sans doesn’t even shutter as the magic ghosts over him, and it tells her how Sans is doing; and in the end its not well.

The words _save him_ fade as Sans readies for another attack; Lilith grits her teeth and digs in. She doesn’t shy away from the horrors of the world and she won’t shy away from this.

When Sans fires another blast of magic, Lilith easily dodges and Checks him again.

_Sans movements grow a little wearier._

And again.

_Sans movements seem to be slower._

And again.

_Sans is starting to look really tired._

Lilith feels her sins crawling up her back, but she smothers the feeling. She can’t afford to be distracted, she doesn’t want to live through this again, doesn’t want to see the empty darkness is Sans’s eyes. She needs to _win_.

She slashes through the bones that are thrown at her, she dodges the bones that spear the ground beneath her feet, she’s quick and light on her feet and not once does she lose control of her LV and charge at Sans. She draws him in slowly, a painfully detailed dance to lure him in.

Lilith dips and dodges, not once attacking, only checking him, ensuring that he’s okay and is dismayed to see his attack power dropping.

Yet, Lilith digs in. She bides her time, until Sans is panting hard and sweating. He stumbles from time to time, but it isn’t until his knees hit the ground that Lilith makes her move; she bowls into him hard, nearly tackling him to the ground with her arms wrapped around his skull to cushion the blow.

With a cry of anger, Sans struggles, but it’s an exhausted and feeble attempt to free himself. Still, Lilith hangs on with her arms snug around his ribs to trap his arms and a leg thrown over his to pin them together.

Even hurt as he is, Sans struggles hard, fighting against Lilith’s grasp as she speaks softly to him, “Love. It’s okay. I’m here, I’m right here. You’re safe. I have you now, you’re safe Sans. Love. Listen to me, you’re okay.”

On and on she spoke in a low, soft voice as Sans’s efforts began to wane. Slowly, ever so slowly, he falls still in her hold even as he panted, and his breathing hitched.    

“You killed him. Why did you kill him?” Sans slurs, his head lolling like he was drunk and sick.

Lilith shakes her head no, her mouth soft on the back of his skull, “No baby. No one is dead. Papyrus is fine, and he’s waiting for you to come home.” She isn’t sure why it’s so easy for her to call him ‘love’ or ‘baby’ but it is, and she can only hope that he recognizes her voice.

Sans is panting hard still, his body wracked with tremors as he shakes. His head tips back and Lilith braces for the empty hurt in his eyes, and nearly laughs when pale, dim eye-lights stare back up at her.

Sans frowns, his brow furrowed as though he isn’t sure what he’s seeing, “Lilith?” his voice is rough, and his eye-lights are blown wide.

“Hey.” Her voice is soft, her hands firm on his body.

Greif crashes through Sans next, and his breathing hitches, “I’m so sorry.” He whispered so quietly that Lilith almost lost it over the blowing wind, “I killed you.”  

Lilith gives him a little laugh, and if it’s a little watery Sans doesn’t say anything, “It’s okay. My death was greatly exaggerated.”  

Sans doesn’t laugh, if anything he looks sicker, like all his magic is spent. His head lolls on his spine and he mutters, “I’m glad I got to see you one last time.”

Lilith’s brows furrow, “What?”

“I used up too much magic, took too much damage.” There’s a god-awful crack, “M’soul’s still fucked.” He slurs and falls limp in her arms.  

Horror fills Lilith as she watches his body begin to fall apart, tuning to dust in her arms as his soul gave out, “M’sorry.” He his tongue feels thick, and he has trouble forming the words, “I lov-“ and he was gone. The cold, cold wind blew his dust away, and Lilith could hear someone screaming.

It takes her a moment to realize it’s her.

There’s a flash of a light….

…

….and Lilith is walking back out to meet Sans.

The snow is colder beyond the shield. The wind bites harder, like knives that shred your clothing and Lilith feels none of it. Not with how heavily she pulls on her magic and her body burns with magic.

There’s a sickening sense of déjà vu that has Lilith slowing to a stop, her brows knitting in confusion and she takes a step back behind the line of the shield. 

This isn’t right, this is wrong and every instinct in her is screaming for a tactical retreat. She needs to gather more information; she’s missing something very important that will decide the outcome of this fight.

She takes another step back and her guts churn as she turns back to Felix. Her own confused face meets his, “Lili?” the amount of uncertainty in his voice is staggering and Lilith shakes her head no at him. She can’t explain it, but she _knows_ something is wrong.

Slowly, she lifts her hands to stare at them, and she can swear she can feel something gritty under her fingernails. Almost like sand or…

Lilith’s face crumples into grief, and for a moment she looks up at Sans as he stumbles though the snow, “Frisk,” her words come carefully and clear, “Why do I feel dust under my nails?”

When Lilith turns to her sister, Frisk is openly sobbing, her arms wrapped around her tiny chest as her whole body shook with the effort of her weeping. It almost breaks Lilith to see her baby sister weeping like that, and slowly she curls her loose hands into fists, “Frisk?”

Tiny hands lift, and she signs back at her sister, _“I’m sorry.”_  Despite the tears, Frisk’s hands are steady as they sign at her sister and Lilith can’t help but be proud of her. The horrors that she tells Lilith made even the battle mage give pause, and even Lilith took a moment to feel grief at the loss.

“Soo,” Felix’s words are slow, and he casts a nervous glance to Ryder and Papyrus, shifting from one foot to the other, “If we can’t retreat. We can’t fight. What do we do?”

He gives his sister a helpless look, which Lilith forces herself not to return. Then, a thought. A stupid, suicidal thought, popped into her head; one born of Frisk’s memories and really, what else did Lilith have to lose?

“We have to act.” She said absentmindedly, turning to stare at Sans in the distance. “He’s too weak to go a full twenty-two rounds, his soul can’t take the strain. I have to wake him up before that.” She bit her lip, thinking hard, her browns furrowing as she thought.

Her head snapped up suddenly, eyes blazing with determination as she stared at Sans and without another word, stormed back outside the shield.

Felix blinked at his sister, “Lili? Lilith wait! What are you doing?”

He was ignored, and Felix could only shrug helplessly at Ryder and Papyrus, hoping Lilith could find a way to bring him home alive.

-

Lilith stood across from Sans again, hands loose at her sides as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Beyond her basic hold on her magic, what typically thumbs just under the surface, Lilith doesn’t reach for the battle-ready attacks and her power hums softly beneath the surface. Unused and relaxed. 

“Birds are singing,” his voice is dead and flat. “Flowers are blooming.”

“Sans, what does the skeleton play in the band?” she pitches her voice upward with effort, sounding unusually cheerful. 

It’s enough to give him a pause, stall him long enough for Lilith to blurt, “The trombone! What does the skeleton play if he can’t play the trombone?”

The blank look furrows, and Sans isn’t sure what to do with himself. Lilith forges on, “The xylobone!”

Sans takes a step backwards, his permanent grin falling a little as Lilith takes two steps forward, “Hey Sans, why did the skeleton go to the comedy club?”

He blinks at her, and she ignores the dumb founded look, and plows on desperate to grasp onto hope, “To find a good rib tickler.”

Sans makes a small noise, and the frown flickers up into an almost smile. It makes Lilith smirk, and she struggles for more puns and jokes, “Hey Sans, why did the skeleton make a friend?”

He doesn’t answer, but Sans does take a step forward and he lets his mangled control hand fall to the side. The next step forward is a little more hesitant, but it’s there.

“Because he was bonely. Hey Sans, why did the skeleton pick a fight?” Sans shakes his head no, taking another step towards Lilith and she can almost touch him, “Because he had bone to pick.”

That one brings an almost smile to his face, and a huff of a laugh. It’s a ghost of his former self, but a sign that Sans was till in there, was fighting to free himself from Chara’s magic.  

“Hey Sans, how does a skeleton lock up his car?” he’s close enough that Lilith could touch him if she wanted to, but she keeps her hands by her sides despite how she itched to touch him, “A skeleton key. Hey Sans, why are bones so calm?”

Lilith smiles when he finally says, “I don’t know.” His voice is raspy, and it hurts Lilith’s heart to hear him like that.

“Nothing gets under their skin.”

Sans huffs again, and his head tips down to look away, “Hey.” His voice is so rough, and Lilith pushes aside the thought that he sounds like that because he had been screaming. There’s marrow on his white t-shirt and his hoodie is ripped, “Why can’t one skeleton look at another skeleton?”

“I don’t know.” Lilith says softly, and she almost reaches out to him. Instead, she takes another half step, so they are toe to toe.

“He didn’t have the stomach for it.”

Lilith laughed softly, giving in she reached for his hand. The bones were cold and stiff, but she nearly went to her knees when he wrapped his fingers around hers, “Hey Sans, why didn’t the skeleton get out of bed?”

“He was bone tired.” Sans said back softly, his grin a little more real and if Lilith looked hard enough she could see his soft eye-lights.

“Yeah, he was.” Lilith pauses, and knows she needs to in for the kill, sort of speak. “Sans, what do you say to the volcanoes at your door?”

“I don’t know.” He admits, and Lilith smirks.

“I lava you.”

Sans’s grin falls a little and he blinks at her, “Yeah?” his voice is wobbly, and his eye-lights are suddenly blown wide and far too aware.

Lilith sighs inwardly, and smiles at him, “Yeah.”  

Blinking at her, Sans knees finally give out from under him and Lilith catches him before he hits the ground. Pulling him into her lap quickly, Lilith clings to him just as hard as he clings back; his mangled hand pulled tightly to his chest.

“I’m sorry!” he gasped, his voice watery and afraid.

“It’s okay Sans.” Lilith reassure, rocking him gently, “It’s okay, I’m here. You’re okay.”

Managing a small nod, Sans burrowed into her as best as he could in the deep, cold snow, “I love you too.” He whispered back, afraid that she would be taken from him again.

Lilith clings back harder, her voice soft as she promises that they will go home. That no one will hurt them anymore and everything will be okay as she gathers him into her lap. She’s taking stock of his injuries, feels the way he shutters from the cold, that he’s bare foot and his toes curl as he shakes. She sees the break in his femur from where his shorts ride up his leg and sees that it’s healed wrong.

She can hear how he’s wheezing, like his magic is thick and clotted with illness. When Sans lifts his head, his eyes are still blown wide with pain and shock, and he lays his forehead against Lilith’s chin and she doesn’t hesitate to drop a kiss to the top of his skull. She can feel how warm his skull is despite the coldness of the air around them, feverish, and she pulls him in tighter to her chest.

“Missed you.” He muttered as his head spun and he feels sick. Lilith nodded against him, her eyes catching sight of Chara and Oliva, looking furious. Lilith crushed Sans to her chest and her magic stirred, “Knew you weren’t dead.”

Fury was crawling at her spine at the sight of them both, but Lilith zeroed in on the hare as her anger spiked. Still, her voice was calm when she addressed Sans, “Yeah well. I was coming back one way or another.”

Sans lifted his head again, still looking woozy, “What’cha getting mad at?” his Hotland accent coming through in his distress and Sans turned to look towards the edge of the forest. With a frown, Sans huffed, “I don’t like her.”

The blue bone that shot up from the ground was sudden and even Lilith was surprised by the attack. It tore through Oliva’s shoulder, blood and gore pouring form the injury that made her cry out in pain. Sans slumped back into Lilith’s chest as he huffed, weak and tired, but managed to hold the bone construct to keep her in place even as Chara watched on with hate, making no move to assist the monster; Oliva struggled against the constructed, pinned by burning blue magic that made her shriek.   

“I missed her soul.” Sans slurred, his head resting against Lilith’s clavicles and he nearly melted into the heat of her body.

“It’s okay love.” Blood red magic spread out from her, “I’ll get her.” The drill spiraled upwards, tearing through Oliva’s chest like something out of a horror movie; blood and dust filled the air around her as she screamed. It covered Chara’s impassive face before the scream was choked off with a gurgling cry as blood filled her lungs and Oliva’s body gave out; returning once more to dust and nothing.

Sans went limp in Lilith’s arms with a sigh. His eyes were half lidded as he fought to stay awake, “Heh. Thanks.”

Lilith pushed herself to stand, Sans’s meager weight not enough to even hamper her movement. She scooped him up with one arm under his abused, cracked legs that dangled uselessly over the side of her arm, and another arm curled around his back.

With his head lolling against her shoulder, Sans huffed as Lilith back away from Chara and back towards the shield, “Why’ah caring me like a princess?”

Lilith snorts but doesn’t respond, her eyes are fully on Chara and waiting for her to attack. Chara’s eyes fill with hate, and for a moment Lilith thinks she will make a move on them and she tenses. She can’t fight with Sans in her arms, but she can protect him from the blows.

Chara hesitates when Felix is suddenly by Lilith’s side, his smirk sharp and a little on the side of madness. The fire battle axe held loosely in his hand as he spins in with practice ease; his eyes shine the color of molten gold, and he shifts in front of Lilith like he dares Chara to attack.

It’s a careful thing as they back away from the demon at their door and slip back behind the shield, and its only then does Sans allow the darkness that has been creeping into his vision to take over. He falls limp in Lilith’s arms and knows he will be well taken care of.


	21. Soul Healing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans and Lilith get a rare soft moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings in this chapter. There is some reference to what occurred in chapter 15 but its very vague. Some pretty fluffy fluff in this chapter and the comfort to the hurt that Sans has been through.

Lilith flinches when she hears the scream from inside Sans’s room and she knows for certain that Lola has just broken another bone to set properly. Shifting against the wall that she leans back against, Lilith tries to keep her face impassive and ignores the quiet sobbing from just beyond the thin wooden door.

Papyrus is sitting next to her, his face buried in his hands as he shakes. He’s trying to cover his non-existence ears with the tips of his gloves and failing to block the sound of his brother in pain out completely.

Ryder shifts next to him, and Lilith can visibly see him stopping himself from wrapping an arm around Papyrus. It almost brings a smirk to her face, she knows that her brother has a soft spot for the soft ones, only that most stayed away because of his appearance; the scar across his face was thick and gave him a look of hardness that typically does not attract the softer souls.  

Sans’s cry of pain kept the smirk from her face, and she sighs heavily and looks down at her socks. Felix is on the other side of the door, staring straight ahead and not making a noise; they both know from experience that she hasn’t started to work on the worse of it yet, and all his cries of pain has been nothing compared to when she works on his wrist.

Lilith can hear Lola’s soft voice talking Sans though what was going to happen next and she sighs heavily. She knows what happens next, and Lola will break and re-set Sans wrist. 

“Ryder, why don’t you take Papyrus downstairs for some tea. Lola might be a little while yet.” Lilith said gently, a little too nonchalant.

Papyrus’ head snaps up, and despite the tears on his face, he’s filled with determination, “No. I will not abandon my brother again. I will wait…”

Sans’s _shriek_ of pain makes everyone flinch and Papyrus curls a little deeper into his ball on the floor. They can hear Sans’s sobbing from the other side of the thin door and Lola’s gentle voice trying to sooth him. Lilith can see it clearly in her mind’s eye; Sans would be curled in the bed, trying to stifle his sobbing, his control hand in Lola’s as she prepares to break the bones that have all healed wrong.

“Why can’t she give him anything?” Papyrus’s voice is small and hurt, and it makes Lilith’s soul squeeze.

“She did.” Felix’s voice is hard and cold. He’s the one here to protect the Den, knows that’s Lilith is compromised and if he’s needed, he will murder anyone who dares to harm them, “But she isn’t used to working on a monster patient. What she gave him isn’t as effective to him as it would have been for one of us.”

Ryder nodded, finally his hand on Papyrus’s shoulder, “She needs to learn more about monster’s to be able to properly control the pain.” He glanced to the door, before calmly asking, “Papyrus, I know you want to be here for your brother, but do you want to come have something to drink. Lilith and Lola won’t let anything happen to him.”    

There’s another hoarse shriek from the other side of the door that makes Papyrus flinch, and he slowly nods at Ryder. Ryder nods back and pushes himself to stand, “Alright, it’s okay Papyrus.” He helps the monster to his feet, massive hands on his sleek bones to help steady him, “I’ll bring you back up when Lola gives us the all clear.”

Papyrus’s tear stained face nods, his hands trembling as he wrings his hands. He pauses in front of Lilith, his eye lights pale, “You. You’ll look after him?”

His voice is so small, so full of hurt that it makes Lilith’s own soul throb in pain, “Of course. I won’t let anything happen to him.” She promises and feels guilty. She should have protected him from all this to begin with.

Papyrus nods and throws himself into Lilith’s arms for a tight hug. She clings back to him just as fiercely, squeezing him tightly, “Thank you Lilith.” His words are shaky and watery, and Lilith can only nod.

“I’ve got him.” She promises softly.

Nodding again, Papyrus quietly wipes away the tears on his face with the back of his hand before he tucks himself under Ryder’s massive arm and allows himself to be guided downstairs.

Felix and Lilith watch them go, and Lilith flinches at another cry of pain from behind the door. She heaves a sigh and tries to relax back against the wall.

“I don’t get it.” Felix shrugs as he watches Papyrus and Ryder disappear down the stairs, “First you, then Ryder?”

Lilith shrugs, and tries not to allow her magic to spark at her fingers at Sans’s soft weeping, “You don’t need to Felix.”

Gold eyes look at her and Felix nods slowly, “I guess so.” Then she shrugs and settles back against the wall to wait.

It’s a long time before Lola comes out, looking stressed and tired. Her face pale from the usage of magic and the throbbing pain from her kindness soul and having to inflict pain onto someone.

Lilith frowns at her sister, she pushed off from the wall to ask softly, “You okay?” reaching out to anchor her sister.

Lola nods, her smile a little shaky, “Yes. I’m okay. I only wish I was able to give him something for the pain. Something more. Even Toriel wasn’t sure what to give him, apparently skeleton monsters are notoriously difficult to treat because of their structure. It’s difficult to manage their pain.” Lola frowns and her hands tighten into fists, “When we get home, I’ll find a way to provide enough pain management so that this won’t happen again.”  

Lola takes a moment to breath slowly, re-centering herself after such a healing session, “I’ve re-set all the bones that needed to be re-set. Sans took it like a champ, but he’s in a lot of pain still. Most of the serious breaks are wrapped in healing gauze. It’ll heal over time, slowly, but I can’t extend my magic that much. If we are attacked, we may need my shields.” She gives Lilith a regretful look, “I’m sorry. But I can’t prioritize Sans’s healing over the lives of everyone else.”

Lilith nods, “It’s okay, I get it.” And she does. If Chara finds a way past the shield, they’ll need Lola at full strength, “The gauze will do what it needs to.”

Lola nods, looking grim and tired. “He’s going to be okay Lilith. Right now, he needs you to be there. He’s very fragile at the moment, and any sort of pressure will make him crack. I’ve given him one of Sloan’s restoration positions, but he needs some serious support and TLC.”

Lilith nods, looking grave, “I’ll make sure he gets it.”

“Good.” Lola is fierce despite the exhaustion. “He’s pretty sick on top of everything else. He needs to sleep to get better, and I’m going to see what kind of food we can make him. He was kept in some pretty deplorable conditions, the infection from some of the breaks set into his magic. I’ve given him something that should work but watch his fever. Let me know if it worsens.”    

Lilith nodded again, straitening a little as she was given her orders. Lola nods slowly, seeing her sister’s understanding, “Good.” Lola sighs deeply, and looks down before she meets Lilith’s eyes, “His soul’s a mess Lil. The pressure that he’s been under, it’s not surprising that when he went toe to toe with you he couldn’t maintain his magic. It’s gotten worse, there’s a lot of cracks.”

Lola pauses to gather herself again, “It looks like a spider web Lilith. It’s bad. He’s going to need a ton of therapy when we get top side, the trauma he’s dealing with isn’t something we can manage.”

Lilith nods grimly, she already knew that Sans needed some major therapy before this timeline, “How do we fix it.”

“That’s the tricky part.” Lola says softly, her eyes shining bright green, “It’s soul to soul healing. A magical transfer of affection from one person to another. He, understandably, doesn’t want anyone to touch him. I had a hard-enough time convincing him to just let me look. He wouldn’t allow me to touch his soul to even see how deeply the cracks go.”

Pain crushes Lilith’s soul, and she allows herself a moment to feel it before he shoves it down. She swallows thickly and tries not to feel guilty as she nods for Lola to continue.

“He says he will allow you to touch it.” Lola says slowly, glancing to her sister, her eyes easily broadcasting her concern. “No one else.”

Surprise wracks Lilith, and she glances to the door before looking back to Lola, “How do I do it?”

Pressing her hands together, Lola’s instructions are clear, and her voice is firm, “Soul to soul. It’ll be cold, he’s badly hurt, and uncomfortable but you need to be soul to soul. Then let him draw your magic from you. Slowly, and don’t push it at him. Let him take it until he’s done. You won’t be able to do this in one sitting; it’ll be over whelming enough for him. You need to remember Lilith, his hurt, and scared and vulnerable. Go at his pace, and only offer magic as he takes it. Think of it like feeding a baby bird. You have a water fall of power, but you need to offer it as though it’s coming through an eye dropper and feed it to him carefully.”

Lilith bites her lip, and buries her worry, “Anything else?”

Lola nods, glancing to the door, “Yeah. Only positive emotions Lilith. No rage, no anger. He can’t cope with that right now. He’s far too damaged for that right now, he needs affection and kindness if his soul is going to heal clean.”

Lilith nods again, and allows herself to settle, to steel herself against the damage she was about to see. Soul to soul was a delicate thing, and she couldn’t screw this up for Sans. She turned to go into his room, Lola’s voice soft as she whispered, “Good luck.”

Lilith nodded her thanks and stepped into Sans room.

Lola watched her sister step into the room and frowned, her soul throbbing in pain at what had happened.

“He’ll be okay.” Felix’s voice startles her, makes her jump a little. He’s still as a statue against the wall, his eyes are focused dead a head, but he’s battle ready. It helps Lola relax, because she knows that Felix was kill any threat to their Den, “Lilith will care for him. She’ll see him through this.”

“What about Lilith though?” there’s a flash of distress on Lola’s face that has Felix frowning at her. Pushing off from the wall, he slings an arm over her shoulder to pull her into a sideways hug.

“Lols,” he smiles at her grimace, “We’ve got Lilith. We’ll make sure she’s okay so she can be there for her little bone friend. She’ll be fine.”

Lola looked up at him with uncertainty, “You’re sure?”

Felix snorted, pressing a kiss to his sister’s head, “’Course I am! Now go get something to eat, you’ll feel better after all the magic you’ve used today.”

Lola paused and gave her brother a small nod and a quick hug, “Thanks Felix.” Then she was gone, light footsteps taking her downstairs.

Heaving a great sigh, Felix leaned back against the wall to stand guard, “Fuck man,” he said out loud to himself, “Not sure when I became the voice of fucking reason ‘round here.” He shook his head as the demon in his soul pulsed an amused affirmative. “It’s weird being the adult.” He muttered, settling in to protect his Den from any threat.

The demon pulsed again with amusement, it’s voice in the back of Felix’s head, _you’re growing up._  

Felix sneers at the thought and shakes his head. “Better do something real stupid after all this so they don’t get the wrong idea about me.”  

_Yes, Fate forbid that you take an iota of responsibility._

Felix laughs darkly at the amusement from the demon and settles in for a long wait. He can bide his time, he knows eventually they will face off against Chara, and then he can have some real fun.

For now, he’ll stand guard over his sister and her little boyfriend.

-

Sans doesn’t look up when Lilith closes the door behind her, it clicks softly and for a moment Lilith isn’t sure what to do. How to proceed. What even the right thing to do is.

Sans is a small lump under the thick blanket, his skull hidden under the soft folds of the fabric, his mattress on the floor and Lilith knows that he’s only under the blanket because that’s where Lola put him. His sheets had been cleaned, likely from Papyrus being nervous and afraid, and needing something to do. So, he cleaned Sans room, preparing it for when his brother would be returned to him.

Lilith frowns, and allows herself to feel the guilt for just a moment. She had left them, left both to die down here. Had left her baby sister and all the friends she made. She let Sans suffer because she hadn’t been strong enough to stop a dead child.

Taking a breath, Lilith slowly walked to his bed and the quivering lump under the comforter. She swallowed hard and licked her lips, “Hey Sans.” She called softly, coming to kneel on the mattress, but careful not to touch him.

The lump under the blanket still for a moment before the trembling returned with a vengeance. There was a soft, wet noise from under the blanket and Lilith made no move to pull it back. Do this at Sans’s pace, that’s what Lola had said and that’s what Lilith would do.

She wouldn’t force him but wait until he was ready. She locked her hands in front of her, lacing her fingers together so she wouldn’t be tempted to touch until he was ready to reach out. Her patience was tested at the soft, wet hitch of his breath.

“It’s okay Sans, it’s going to be okay.” She tells him softly, shifting to sit down next to him; she put her back to him, bent her knees and rested her elbows on her knees. Her hands dangled between them, and she struggled with what to say next.

She licked her lips to wet them, and she fought for her words, “It was your memory that helped me get through.” She paused, not sure what to say, “Get through the void.” She paused again, struggling for words, “I really missed you.”

There was another shuttering breath and hurt squeezed at Lilith’s soul to hear him softly crying. “I’m sorry I left you.” Lilith at least felt like it needed to be said, even if her Den thought otherwise.

Sans lets out a shuttering breath, his voice hoarse from screaming, “I tried to get to you.” He pulls back the blanket and slowly sits up. Lilith doesn’t touch him in anyway, even when he tries to wipe his face unsuccessfully with the back of his hand. Lilith almost smiles at seeing the movement, seeing how utterly useless bones was to mop up tears but Sans’s misery keeps it from her face.

His control hand if wrapped carefully in soft white gauze that glows the soft green of healing magic that the gauze has been embedded with. The magic will slowly be absorbed into his body, mending the bones at an accelerated rate but slower then if Lola was focusing on healing. Chances are, Sans’s femur was wrapped in the same healing gauze.

“I’m sorry too.” He says wetly, and Lilith glances down briefly at his wrist and hand and the softly glowing green fabric that is softly mending the bones back together. It makes Lilith’s soul ache, knowing she had failed him so badly.  

“You don’t need to be sorry.” She tells him quietly, and her fingers itch to touch him. To hold him.

“Then neither do you.” He points out quietly, cradling his broken hand to his belly, trying to hide if from Lilith but the light comes through between his fingers.

Quietly, Lilith curses herself. On the battlefield, when his life was at stake, Lilith could be honest. Could find the words with a stupid pun to tell him how she felt but couldn’t find the words off it. She fought the useless feeling and swallowed hard, “Okay. That’s fair. Neither of us have anything to be sorry for.”

Sans nods in agreement, still trying to wipe his face. Lilith chews on her inner cheek and rallies her courage, she was a battle mage damn it! She had waded into battle, had killed without remorse, and protected her family from threats the underworld had never fathomed. Surely, she could find the words for Sans.

“Sans, can I touch you?” she asks him quietly.

His eyes are watery when he looks up at her, his voice small, “Please.”

Lilith nods, and she’s just as desperate to reach for him as he is for her; she shifts forward, one leg tucked under her thigh while the other stretches out next to him. She reached out to Sans the same time he reached for her and they dragged each other into an impossibly tight hold, gripping desperately.

“I held on for you too.” Sans mutters tiredly while Lilith reached up to wipe his face with her sleeve, “I sassed the fuck outta her for weeks. You’d be so proud.”

Wrapping her arm around his shoulders, Lilith drew him inward, “I am proud. I’m so fucking proud Sans.”

He laughed weakly, wrapping his own arms around her, his laugh ending in a soft sob. Lilith held him tighter, one hand coming to cup the back of his head to cradle him against her, “I love you.” She whispers against his skull, and his breath is soft and shuttering.

“Love you too.” He mutters back, pressing his face into her shoulder.

For a while, it’s enough; they sit there on his bed, holding onto each other tightly. Lilith would drop a kiss to the top of his skull or against his bruised knuckles. Sans would press a kiss to her collar bone or her cheek, too nervous to press a kiss to her mouth.

They sat like that for a long time, quietly murmuring to each other, words of encouragement or love, until the tears in Sans’s eyes dried and his trembling slowed.

Lilith made no move towards his chest, wouldn’t until Sans gave her the green light.

“Lola told me.” He said eventually, quietly, “That we could heal my soul.” Lilith nodded against his skull, quietly waiting for him to finish his thought, “I don’t want anyone else to touch me like that.”

Lilith nodded, slowly rubbing his back, “That’s okay. No one will touch you without your permission.” She promised, and it was one Lilith intended to keep.

She heard Sans swallow hard, curling tightly into Lilith’s embrace and his words were soft, “I’m okay with you touching me like that.”

Lilith nodded, slowly letting him go, gently pushing him back by his shoulders. His face was pinched with misery and hurt, vulnerable in a way that made Lilith’s soul ache. She reached up to brush her thumb along a dark smudge under his eye, brushing away the gathering moisture.

“Okay.” She paused and took a breath to steady herself, “This is your show love.” Lilith told him softly, her hand falling still on his cheek. “I don’t do anything unless you tell me to do it. Okay?”

Sans looks anywhere but her, his anxiety bubbling hotly in his soul, and he grasps at her wrists tightly, “Okay.” He affirms.

Even then, it’s a slow thing. Sans closes his eyes, his body was still and tense, his breathing too hard while he aimed for calm.

“You’re okay.” She told him softly, “I won’t do anything you don’t want me too.” He nods at the promise in her voice, and with a shuttering breath Sans summons his soul.

Lilith likes to think that war had prepared her for a lot of things; deadly things and cruelty that only humans could inflict on each other.

Even with Lola’s warning, Lilith was still under prepared for Sans to summon his soul and the damage inflicted onto it.

Lilith swallowed the hiss back if only barley, but she couldn’t keep the wince from her face, not in the face of Sans’s vulnerability. The cracks that nearly split his soul in two were far deeper then she remembered, and from that center wound, dozens of cracks branched off from that central point to almost reach the sides of his soul.

The dimly lit, inverted heart seemed overly dry and pulsed dully just beyond Sans’s chest. Curling into himself, Sans looked away, ashamed and exposed, “I know. It’s bad. You don’t.” he chocked a little, “You don’t need to touch it.”

Lilith’s eyes drew up, and she frowned deeper at him. Her hands fell to his shoulders again, being sure to not touch his soul until he was ready for her too, “Sans. This doesn’t make me not want to touch you.” If anything, it makes her want to touch him more. To wrap herself around him like armor and ensure that this never happened again. _~~Until she could find who did this and murder them for what they did to him.~~_

She shoved down her rage and swallowed hard, “This doesn’t scare me off love.”

Anxiety chewed at him, fear made him sick and he couldn’t look at Lilith. He doesn’t say anything as he nods, and gently pulls away from her hands to lay back on the mattress. Lilith watched him carefully, his stiff movements as he lay back, the way he clenched his eyes shut and was tense with his growing fear.

Frowning, Lilith’s soul pulsed painfully again at his slow, stiff movements. The fear that was easily seen in every line in his body, every stiff movement. The way his breathing hitched with a wet sound.

Lilith frowned and shook her head no. Nope, this wasn’t going to happen this way. Not in the least. Lilith moved slowly, making sure Sans could feel every shift of the bed, every dip as she moved over him. She threw her leg over his body to settle over his hips, and Sans’s breathing hitched. He flinched away from her, and he became very stiff under her, still between her thighs.

He started to tremble, his hands shook, and he clenched them shut. He braced for pain, he braced for hurt and to be assaulted as he had been for weeks.

“You’re okay love. You’re okay. Nothing bad will happen here.” She promised, her fingers digging into the soft folds of his t-shirt, still not touching his soul, “You’re safe. You’re in control.”

Sans gasped as she rolled them, his hands shooting up to clutch at her elbows as he landed on top of her. His soul throbbed painfully between them as he stared down at her in shock, his eyes wide and the soft, white lights blown wide.  

Only then did Lilith summon her own soul, bright and crimson, full of lush magic, settling into the mattress at her back; her soul is bright and warm between them, and when it brushes Sans’s soul, both mage and monster shiver. His soul is so cold, it’s like ice against hers, and Lilith’s soul is so warm it feels almost too warm.     

“What are you doing?” his voice is thick, a mix of a sudden want and undeniable fear.

“Told you. You’re in charge. This goes at your pace.” She offers him the softest smile she can, her hands on his hips to steady him.

Sitting over her, Sans looks away and feels stupidly nervous, too nervous to stutter out a stupid joke, only feeling foolishly grateful. He’s not pinned down beneath her, she’s not forcing the issue or him. “Thanks.” He mutters softly, and he reaches for her hands.

He peels them carefully off his hips, and links their fingers, and Lilith can feel how cold his fingers are, how drawn his magic has become. Leaning forward, Sans guided Lilith’s hands to settle near her head, and he gives her a worried look, their souls brushing again.

“This okay?” his voice is uncertain, but he feels relief when Lilith settles a little further into his mattress and nods.

“It’s fine love. This is fine.” She reassures him softly, and she squeezes his fingers tightly.

He gives her a nervous smile, and he can’t look at his own, damaged soul, “Heh. This is. I’ve never. I don’t play with my soul.”

Lilith blinks at him, her smile is slowly shy, “Me neither.” And that makes him feel better. At least he’s not the only one who’s not done this before, “You don’t show your soul when you’re in a war, even to your allies. Too risky.”

Squeezing her hands, Sans glances away, trying to push down the apprehension. He gives her one last nod, his hands shaking and his body trembling, Sans lowers herself down, gasping as his soul touches Lilith’s.

Sans’s soul is cold, like ice against Lilith’s, and it has her arching with a whimper up into his chest. His soul is hard and she can feel the sharp chasm’s snag against her own soul, and it takes a concentrated effort to not gorge Sans’s soul with magic, rushing to fill the painful void with magic and love. She manages to hold it back, stops herself from forcing her magic forward, gently offering like Lola had told her to.

Slowly, like an eye dropper, she offered the magic to him.

Sans gasp at the heat from Lilith’s soul. Heavy and plush against his, soft and offering, and he’s so greedy to draw that magic into his own soul. Greedy to take what Lilith is offering, and the magic of his soul settles a little more readily with Lilith’s; tendrils of their magics twined and twisted slowly together. Sans drawing magic from Lilith slowly, gently, taking what he needed. Her magic filled in the cracks of his soul, helping it knit close, encouraging his soul to heal.

Sans sighed, the odd, hot and cold feeling, began to bleed into pleasure. It was something soft and a gentle pressure, like a massage over his bones. He melted into her touch and he released her hands, tucking his own under her neck and nuzzled into the crook of her neck. He went boneless against her, limp and soft, snuggling into her body almost desperately.

Desperate for some kind of soft touch, of contact that didn’t involve pain.  He wanted _Lilith_ to touch him.

Lilith swallowed a moan as the cold from Sans’s soul grew warm and soft, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, draping her arms loosely around him. Sighing heavily, Sans nuzzled in a little more, his voice slurring when he muttered, “I like it when you touch me.”

Making a noncommittal noise, Lilith still gives a little smirk to the celling, feeling a little euphoric, a little lightheaded as Sans drew magic from Lilith. She managed to twin their legs as best they could while they lay stretched out on Sans’s mattress. A soft sort of bliss settled over them, something soft and full of affection, of love and Sans drew the magic he needed slowly until it was over whelming and he needed to stop.

“Okay.”  He slurred softly, “Okay no more.”

“Okay.” Lilith sighed softly, and Sans can’t help but feel relieved that she respected his wishes. He told her to stop, and she was stopping; it took time to untwine their souls. It’s a slow, gentle process that doesn’t hurt, and when it’s done Sans feels better.

With the utmost gentleness, Lilith pushes Sans up by his shoulders to look at his soul; hers was still bright crimson and pulsing with affection and magic, and when her eyes fall to his, her face lights up in delight.

“You look better.” She croaks, and when Sans looks down at himself, he doesn’t think he deserves that much praise.

There’s still a thick, ugly crack in the centre of his soul, the branches are thick and painful as they off shoot from that thick, awful wound. However, many of the smaller, thinner cracks are filled with warm, crimson magic. He can see the same crimson magic shining in the deep crevasses of his soul, and the depth doesn’t look nearly as deep.

With a sigh, Sans dismisses his soul and Lilith does the same. Sinking back down into Lilith’s arms, he allows himself to be shifted onto his side as Lilith rolls them onto their sides. They don’t say anything, but Sans doesn’t think they need to. No, he’s content to lay in Lilith’s arms, warm and safe, his head settled against her chest and listened to her heart beat softly behind her ribs.

The door cracks open suddenly, and it has Lilith shoot upwards, magic at her fingertips and her face cold and ready to kill. She’s reacting long before Sans even realizes what’s happening or notices the potential threat.

When Papyrus’s head pokes into the room, his face drawn and sad, his eyes filling with tears when he sees his brother. Sans’s name is soft and broken, and it nearly sounds like it had been torn from his chest, bleeding and ragged.

Sans’s voice is just as rough, just as broken and it has Papyrus crossing the room quickly, and Lilith doesn’t complain when he crawls into bed with them; he puts his back to the wall while Lilith’s is towards the door.

Instantly, Papyrus’s arms are around Lilith and Sans, strong and boney as he cuddles into the back of his brother’s head, “Sans, I’m sorry.” He mutters thickly, and Sans rolls in Lilith’s arms to cuddle into his brother.

“S’okay bro.” Sans sounds tired and a little out of it, but his words are firm, “Nothing to say sorry for.”

There was a long pause from Papyrus, before his wobbly words muttered, “I missed you so much.”

“Heh. I missed you too bro.” Sans looks up, looking so proud at his brother that it hurts Lilith’s heart to know how he must have suffered, “I didn’t break though. I didn’t give them anything.”

Papyrus looks conflicted, upset by his brothers pride and Lilith thinks that it might be what drives him to tears. Lilith gets it, she does, and she’s silently proud of her mate for his conviction, makes a note to tell him later.

Papyrus is saved by another commotion in the hall, one that has him tensing at, but Lilith relaxes when she recognizes Ryder and Felix’s deeper voices.

“Felix, enough.” Ryder hisses as Felix shoves him into the room with a surprising amount of strength for someone half Ryder’s sizes.

Rolling his eyes, Felix gives his brother another shove towards the bed, his eyes flashing gold and his instinct is riding him hard. He has injured Den mates, he _needed_ to get them into the centre of the pile, the centre of the Den.

Rosie shifts nervously from his shoulder, but Felix doesn’t mind her nervous energy. Instead he huffs and rubs his hand over his face in annoyance, “Get it the bed Ryder.”

“Felix.” The larger mage hisses, his eyes flashing burnt orange in his irritation, “I am not a battle mage.”

Lilith snorts despite herself, still feeling the effects of sharing magic with Sans, she snuggles into him, “No.” She yawns, “But you were raised by one.”

She can feel Ryder’s glare and Felix’s flash of triumph even as the illusionist mutters darkly about crazy, touch staved battle mages. In the end, it’s Sans who convinces Ryder, “Thought puppy piles were supposed to make everything better?” his words are wobbly, and part of him fears someone like Ryder, someone so _big,_ near him.

Yet, this is Lilith’s brother, a trusted ally. A Den mate who had followed her into a war. If nothing else, Sans trusts Lilith with his body, so he can trust her Den.

Felix laughs, its high and border lining manic, but Ryder sighs and gives in.  With another merry shove from Felix, Ryder climbs into the bed with them. Unlike Lilith who is desperate to touch, Ryder keeps his hands to himself, being overly considerate to not touch Sans by accident and for that Sans is grateful.

“Ryder at the wall, Lilith by the door,” Felix is bouncing on the balls of his feet before he climbed over them, putting his back to the wall, his long legs stretching out over everyone else’s, “And I’ll watch the door.” He almost looks like he hopes something cruel comes through, wants an excuse to kill something.

His smile is a little jagged, a whole lot crooked, but when he looks at Sans and all those who surround him, Felix’s voice is earnest, “You can rest easy Sans. I maybe a lot of things, do a lot of things, but letting anyone hurt my injured Den mates is not one of them.”

His smile grows sharper, and his eyes darker, “Nothing will hurt you so long as we’re here. Lilith, and Ryder and I are here. Lola and Sloan are downstairs.”

It’s an odd thing, to be surrounded by his family and Lilith’s, but Sans relaxes into it, giving Felix a tired smile, “Thanks kiddo.”

Felix looks absolutely delighted to be called kiddo and settles in to guard his family. He sighs when Lilith pets the back of his skull and is brother’s arms are strong around him, and when Sans falls asleep he doesn’t have nightmares of the last four months.

He’s safe here, among demons and killers and mages. He’s safe.

When Sans finally falls asleep, he finally gets the rest he needs and his soul swells with love for Lilith and Papyrus.

He’s safe for now, he’s well defended and the touches on his bones are gentle. He’s safe, and that’s all that matters.

It’s that feeling of love and protection that lull him to sleep, and Sans finally rests.

He’s safe, Lilith has him and she loves him. For the first time in a long time, Sans has real hope, warm and bright, for the future.


	22. Rescue Mission: Start!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne gets a little push from Sans.

Undyne sighs and crosses her arms over her chest bitterly, fighting the cold that threatens to make her shiver. She refuses to give in and grits her fangs to stop herself from shaking. She stares darkly beyond the green shield and tries not to feel too angry.

Four days had yielded no activity, not marching, raging mages. If anything, they stayed near Papyrus and Sans, none of them straying far from the home and at a minimum three of them were at the house with the brothers at all times. Lilith didn’t leave Sans’s side at all.

When Undyne has pressed the one she thought was the leader, Sloan, the spell caster had laughed softly and told her that they would not be moving until the battle mages were ready to move and battle mages _didn’t_ move when mates were hurt.

So long as Sans was hurt and vulnerable, Lilith wasn’t going far. So long as Lilith didn’t go far, neither did the Den. Especially that weird, crooked brother Felix. If Lilith wasn’t around, he was. Never far, guarding over Sans, Papyrus, Monster Kid and Frisk with a cold violence that made even Undyne hesitate. Made her grateful that it had been Lilith that fell into the underground.

Undyne had also learned that Den’s didn’t have leaders, that Sloan was not in charge of her brothers and sisters. The role of leadership would alternate to the mage who had the most experience, the one who wasn’t hurt.

In battle, they all would defer to Lilith and Felix. When it came to the political mine field that was the complicated relationship with Toriel, they all deferred to Sloan. Undyne had yet to figure out what Ryder and Lola specialist in.

Undyne scratched the back of her neck and huffed. She needed to move, needed to do something. Four days of inactivity was starting to make her antsy, make her anxious and she refused to think of Alphys.

She was alive, Undyne refused to consider any other outcome. She wasn’t dead, she couldn’t be. Undyne refused to think of anything else.

Instead, she focused on the weirdness of what had happened in the four days since the mages had literally dropped into the underground. She thought of Sans and Papyrus having a quiet conversation behind the closed doors of Sans’s room while Lilith and Felix pretended not to hear their thick, tear filled voices.

She thinks about Lilith asking Frisk if she was okay, and the weird part, asking Frisk why she didn’t reset when she had the chance. Weirder yet, Frisk signing to her big sister she was terrified to reset. Undyne’s fists clenched; what did that even mean? Why was Frisk so afraid of what ever a reset was? Why did it make her sob into her sisters’ chest and cling to the battle mage as though Frisk was afraid that she would never see her again? 

Clenching her teeth, Undyne felt something tight squeeze at her chest and it took several long, slow breaths to make it loosen enough to take a full breath.

“Fuck.” She muttered and craved a smoke when she thought about Alphys again.

“Shouldn’t be out here on your own ‘Dyne.” Sans’s voice was soft and tired, and it shouldn’t have startled her as much as it had.

Undyne tried not to jump as Sans slow to a stop next her, still looking sick and worn out, and stared out to the snow-covered ground around the shield with dim eye-lights. Undyne frowned at him, wondering how he has escaped any of his many guards. It wasn’t like Lilith to leave him on his own for any length of time and her weird brother seemed to take up the mantle of his protection in her absence. He must have shortcutted, the brat, “You’re still recovering. You should still be inside.”

As if to illustrate her point, Sans coughed. It was thick and wet, and had him spitting out clotted, spoiled magic into the snow. “Yeah, probably.” He sounds hoarse still, tired. His magic is still unsettled and thick, unstable with how weak it was, “Just needed a little air.”

Undyne huffs, “Yeah, well. I should take you back to your girlfriend or her creepy brother.”

Something protective crosses over Sans’s face, but it’s there and gone in the blink of an eye, “Eh. Felix isn’t so bad. He’s protective.” Sans shrugs remember the feeling of comfort when he had Lilith guarding him and his brother, and Felix guarding them all.

Undyne grunts at him before resuming her staring into the snow, “What are you doing out here?” her voice is rough and thick, but Sans doesn’t mention it.

Instead he pulls a pack of cigarillos from his inventory and knocks one out, putting it between his teeth. Silently, he holds one out to Undyne. Her mouth waters and she takes one just as quietly, patiently waiting for Sans to light his own before he passes her the lighter.

“I just needed some time to myself.” He tells her as she flicks the lighter to light her own, inhaling deeply and relishing the burn of the smoke in her chest. “Lilith and Paps haven’t left my side since I came home. I don’t mind it, I don’t.” he hesitates and stares at the cherry, sighing hard enough for smoke to curl from his nasal structure, “But I just need a few to myself. You know?”

Undyne nods, she does know.

_Don’t think about Alphys._

“Yeah,” her voice is a little thicker and it has nothing to do with the smoke, “Yeah I do.”

Sans nods, taking another deep drag and breathing slowly, smoke curling up from his eyes and mouth. It creeps Undyne out, but she has no doubt that Sans’s girl would be endlessly amused by it.

“Didn’t think your girl would want you to smoke.” She says lightly, “thought you quit.”

Sans shrugs, his smirk a little rueful, “Well, with everything that’s been happening I thought I was due a little something.”

_You got your mate back._ It’s a cold, bitter thought that Undyne crushes quickly and refuses to let it take root.

“Besides, Lilith has done worse.” He stares at the cherry again, the lights of his eyes faded enough to have almost disappeared, “I doubt a little smoking will bother her too much.”

Undyne nods again, and tries not to feel jealous, “How have you been doing Sans? With everything?”

Sans shrugs, looking sad and maybe a little vulnerable, but there’s a kernel of anger there. A fury that hasn’t been fully unleashed, and when it does the demon will remember why Sans is the Judge. “I’ve been managing. Helps to have Lilith back, helps that her Den is here.”

Undyne hides her grimace, mainly because it’s true. Lilith’s Den took to Sans like a duck to water. Like he and Papyrus had always been a part of their squad, and Undyne refuses to feel hurt that she wishes that she could have been a part of it too.

They were friendlier with her then many of the others, but if felt like something was missing…

_Alphys. Alphys was missing, and maybe that was why Undyne was pushing away their soft attempts at friendship? It hurt too much to lose people._

Undyne sighed and flicked her cigarillo, ash blowing away on the wind, “You ah. You talk to the Prince yet?”

To Sans’s credit, he doesn’t flinch. Instead he stares at the shield and slowly shakes his head no, “Nah. Not yet. I’m not…” he pauses, and his eye-lights fade to nothing, making Undyne shiver. It’s hard to remember that Sans is a LV 10 monster and one of the more powerful Judges they’ve had when everyone thought of him as Papyrus’s lazy brother, “I’m not ready to talk to the kid yet, but he keeps trying. I’ve asked Lil and her fam to run interference.” His eye-lights come back and he smiles softly, “They’re frighteningly efficient at keeping us apart now that I’ve asked.”   

Undyne nods and gets it as best she can. Asriel, although in a different body and maybe even a different person, did something horrible to Sans. Something unforgivable. Something that made Lilith and Felix’s eyes flood black anytime the Prince came into the room with them, and even Undyne saw red sometimes.

Sans had, had a full-blown panic attack when he had simply seen Asriel that first time. Barely able to breathe and clung to the nearest body, who happened to be Lola, hard enough to bruise. Lola had realized what was happening, and instead of fighting to get Sans off her, simply scooped him up and whisked him away. Brought him someplace safe until Lilith was found and could help calm him down.

It didn’t surprise Undyne that when Sans was startled by the face of an abuser, he shut down and ran solely on instinct. She only thanked their lucky stars that it hadn’t been an aggressive attack. Undyne has no doubts which side the mages would have taken, and Toriel didn’t need to lose her son again.

“Has Toriel…?” Undyne trails off at Sans’s pinched face, looking angry and miserable.

“No.” his voice is cold, and it closes the argument before it can start. Undyne frowns, feeling offended on his behalf that the Queen hadn’t even come to visit.

“I’m sure she’s just overwhelmed with her kid.” Undyne muttered, trying to make it hurt a little less.

Sans shrugged and took a deep drag of his smoke, “Does it matter?” he asked, and he exhaled harsh that the smoke rushed from his body.

Undyne paused, and shrugged herself, “I guess not.”

Sans nodded and stared back out into the wilderness before them, “She’s alive.” He said suddenly, staring vacantly.

Undyne’s head snapped around to him so fast, she thought her spine might snap, “What?”

“She’s alive.” Sans repeated quietly. “At least while I was… there. Chara kept her at the lab. In the true lab under the faux one in Hotland. Has her experimenting on drawing magic and determination from monsters. Chara is trying to shore up her body, but it’s not working. But. Alphys is alive.”

Undyne stares at him, feeling weak and tired, like her knees might give out from under her, “Alive?”

Sans nods again, dropping his smoke into the snow to crush under his new shoes. They shimmer in red magic and don’t seem to be wet from the snow. “Yup. Alive, but not so well. She’s tough. Tougher than we give her credit for.” Sans looks at her, a little bit wistful, “But four months is a long time ‘Dyne.”  

Sans shrugs and turns away, “But I dunno. We aren’t going anywhere fast. Lilith will dig in so long as I’m not feeling great.” And he wasn’t, not by a long shot. “But their illusionist might be willing to go on a suicidal adventure.” Undyne’s eyes go wide at the implication.

“Not that I want Lilith’s brother to die. But well.” He pauses to give her a one arm shrug as he glances over his shoulder, his eye flashing a weak blue, “But Al is my friend. I don’t want her to die either and some chance is better then no chance.”

Then Sans was gone, slowly walking back the way he came and into his house. Even from where she was, Undyne can here Lilith’s delighted greeting, and suddenly her soul swelled.

Alphys was alive.

And they had a spy on their side.

Undyne’s smile was cruel as she quietly thanked Sans. She snuffed out her smoke and went to find Ryder.

-

Sans coughed hard into his hand, a hacking, wet sound that made him gasp for breath and he spat another thick clot of spoiled magic out his window. He grimaced, and with a groan he managed to get back into bed.

He felt too hot, too tired and his joints ached. His magic felt unreliable, almost impossible to hold. Like water that was running through his fingers, and he felt too horrible to really be annoyed by that fact.

He lay in his bed, his sweater on the floor by his mattress while he panted, pushing himself too much to chat with Undyne.

The door to his room opened and clicked closed, and Lilith sat on the edge of his bed. Groaning, he pressed into her hand when she lay it against this heated skull, and he heard her huff of a sigh, “I told you I should have went to talk to Undyne. You’re feeling warmer again.”

Shrugging, Sans managed to roll over, his eyes opened a slit to see his mate beside him, “She wouldn’t have believed you.”

He shivered when she lay a cool, damp cloth over his head and pressed it against his heated skull, “Mhmm. Right.” She shook her head at him, looking a little cross for allowing him to talk her into going outside when he was still ill, “Well, Ryder at least is on board. Sloan’s loading him up right now.”

“Good.” Sans muttered, “That’s good.” He gave her a crooked little smile, “’Dyne never would’da accepted his help if he offered.”

Lilith snorted and pulled something out of her bag, “No doubt.” She sounds amused, despite her annoyance.

“Couldn’t let Al stay there.” Her slurred, drifting off into sleep, the little excursion outside draining him more then he was willing to admit.

“I’ve got something for you.” Lilith said suddenly, picking up his hand and it’s enough to get Sans to peel his eyes back open to see Lilith slipping on a thick, black wristband over his fingers and onto his wrist before she did the same to the other.

“They’ve been imbedded with protection magic. They’ll create sort of a temporary shield if needed or lash out at anyone will ill intent.” She looks down, and Sans is amused by the deep shade of bright red she goes, “You know. In case I’m not around.”

Blinking owlishly at her, Sans looks at the fuzzy wrist bands and the slow crawl of his smile spreads over his face. He holds up one of his hands, with the word _Death_ scrawled in block leaders into the fabric of the wrist band, “Getting a little possessive there Lili?”

If possible, Lilith gets even redder, and damn if she isn’t adorable when she’s bashful about something. Could fearlessly take on an enemy twice her size but gets red in the face when she’s doing something nice for him. “No.” she says slowly. “But its imbedded with my magic. The moniker will act sort of like a…warning to hostile mages on the surface.”

Sans laughs, its weak and wet, but the first honest chuckle he’s had since he came home, “What? It’ll let them know that if they fuck with me, they’ll have to deal with you?”

Lilith actually looks uncomfortable for a moment, and she squirms, “Sort of.” Her voice is slow again, and he fidgets, “It’ll tell them that if they fuck with you, I will kill them.”

The smile falls from Sans face, and he raises a brow at her, “Seriously?”

She licks her teeth, and for a moment looks like she might regret giving them to him, “Yeah. We come from. We live in a violent world. When we reach the surface, a lot of other Dens will see you as a weakness, a way to get to me.” Lilith looks away, her brows furrowing, “It’s better to warn them off before they make an attempt. Those will keep most of the would-be assassins away. There aren’t many who would want me to come knocking on their doors.”

She looks down at her thumbs, fidgeting again, “I mean. I would get it if. Once we reach the surface. If you would rather not be with. Me.” It sounds pained to say it, like it was pulled from her chest with a bone saw.

Is strangely made Sans smile and reach for her hand, “Can’t get rid of me that easy evil mage.” She looks up at his crooked smile and returns a small one of her own to him, “’Sides, who’s going to come knocking to fuck with you?”

“Felix.” The answer is automatic, and it makes Sans wheeze out a laugh.

“Yeah well, that’s what little bros do. He doesn’t count.” He glances at the wrist bands and gives her a little nod, “Thanks Lilith.”

“You’re welcome.” Her voice is quiet, but her face has lit up in delight. “Just keep them on. They won’t protect you if you take them off.”

Sans nods, and is staring to fall asleep again, drifting off to let his body recover. He’s startled awake when Lilith lets go of his hand and tucks him in. “Nap with me?” his voice is rough with illness and sleepiness, and he hopes that Lilith will stay.

The mage pauses, before she nods and stripes off her jacket to slide into bed with him.

Sans sighs and curls up with his mate, relishing the feeling her arms around him. Of her skin under his fingers, so different from the bone he was so accustomed to.

Sans falls asleep with Lilith in his arms, and the shining hope that Alphys would be returned to them soon enough.

“Love you Evil mage.”

“Love you too.” She whispers back to him, and it makes Sans’s broken soul swell as he falls asleep.

-

Undyne is determined as she slips into the kitchen of Sans and Papyrus’s house, her yellow eye glancing around the room, falling onto the massive mage that was sitting hunched up at the table. His light blue eyes are carefully reading the most up to date report from Waterfall and Hotland.

Since Flowey had become Asriel with the help of the kindness soul, Waterfall had become much safer. The vines that made up his body that was chocking the underground had become dust, freeing the underground from his sway; being freed from their entrapment from his vines and the citizens of Waterfall who had escaped felt safe enough to come out of hiding to re-establish communication with Snowdin.

The rumors of Lilith’s return, and the assistance of her Den had spread like wildfire among the citizens of the underground. Giving them hope again, emboldened enough to reach back out. The reports from Waterfall were hopeful, like retaken land and a freed people.

Hotland was not the same; a dark power clung to the territory like a cruel blanket. Hovering just over the surface of everyone, and Muffet reported monsters still going missing and screams from the Lab.

Ryder shifted, his scared face pulled into a deep frown as he flicked through Muffet’s last report, disturbed by the things he was reading.

Undyne smiled, flashing sharp teeth and almost found the sight of the massive mage hunched over a too tiny table amusing. Had Alphys’s life not been on the line, she might have found it funny.

Sliding up next to him, Undyne gave him her best smile, vicious and wide, and tilted her head to the side, “Tell me mage, are you not liking what you’re seeing?”

Her rough voice drew his face to him, and he was frustratingly calm when he addressed her, “No. It appears that Chara’s hold on Hotland is still very tight and it is affecting the monsters there. I think we need to encourage them to move into Waterfall, where she seems to be more hesitant to come into.” And Undyne notices how different his accent is from the others.

He glanced back at the report, eyes narrowing, “I do not understand why she hesitates to entre Waterfall. What keeps her in Hotland?”

Undyne had wondered that as well, and rubbed at her mouth in thought, “Maybe it’s you?” Ryder looked back up at her, brows furrowed, “Too close to a Den of mages?”

Ryder made a noise at the back of his throat and hummed, “Maybe. But with her ability to absorb magic you would think that it would be the opposite. She should want to be near us to take the excess magic that we expel.”

Undyne snorted, “Fear makes people act in stupid ways.”

Ryder considered this with a nod, “We would be the first Den she would have encountered in a very long time and mages have changed vastly in the last few hundred years.”  

Undyne hummed, bored with the conversation, “Yea. Sure. Listen, I need your help with something.” Her voice was oddly hushed, and Ryder’s light eyes glanced to her.

“You’re the illusionist right? Can turn invisible?” her voice is hushed, and her words are rushed when she speaks. Ryder gives her a look, and slowly nods. “Good. I need your help with something.”

Undyne can’t quite believe she is asking for help from a human, a mage no less, but Alphys is more important than her pride, “The demon has Alphys locked up in Hotland. We need to get her back.”

Ryder blinks at her, his smile creeping across his face slowly, “Oh? Why’s that?”

“We just do, okay!” she snaps at him, her face flushing with heat and embarrassment. “Sans says she’s at the lab, the true lab apparently.” She glances away, scratching at her arm. “Listen, will you help me?”

Ryder keeps calmly smiling at her, almost amused by what’s happening and Undyne is prepared to argue her point, “Sure.” His voice is frustratingly calm, “Do you have a plan?”  

Blinking at him slowly, Undyne is surprised how easily he had been swayed, “Uhhhh. Get in and get her out.”

Ryder snorts, “That’s a wish list Undyne. Not a plan.” He glances at the report in front of him and nods, “Luckily for you, I have been a part of many rescue missions behind enemy lines. Get what you will need, but dress lightly. We don’t want to alert Chara with heavy, clunky armor.” Undyne nods rapidly, her eye shining with hope. “Meet me by the edge of the shield in ten minutes.”

She smiles again, hope and passion bursting in her chest.

-

The escape from Snowdin had been easy. Easier than Undyne was willing to admit; once they reached the edge of the shield Ryder had simply pushed his illusion onto Undyne and they walked past the gate between Snowdin and Waterfall. No one saw them, and as far as Undyne could tell no one knew they were missing.

The walk to Hotland was mostly silent, awkward in a way between Ryder and Undyne before she couldn’t stand the silence any longer and asked, “So I thought mages were aggressive? Why hasn’t Lilith marched to the capital and kicked Chara’s teeth in?”

Ryder’s light eyes glanced to her, studying her before saying, “Not all mage classes are aggressive, there are many different classes not just warrior types like battle mages. There’s healers, true healers not mages like Lola who have a healing trait, spell casters, potion makers, botanists, shield mages, illusionists, so on and so forth.”

He gives her a little shrug, “Battle mages are the more aggressive class. Bred for war, they were raised to be quick, effective killers and to do as much damage in as little amount of time as possible. Their parental lines often chosen to provide them with the most effective traits to either make them more lethal or keep them on their feet longer.”

“Lilith has the healing trait, so she’s built for durability. So yes, she has the aggression to march to the capital and kick Chara’s teeth in, but battle mages are fiercely protective. If one of their own is too hurt or damaged to move on or be left alone, no force on earth will make them march and a Den doesn’t march unless the whole Den marches.”

“So, Lilith won’t leave Sans, and you won’t leave Lilith?” Undyne sounds unsure, but Ryder nods at her.

“Correct. Sans is badly injured, and Lilith is very fond of him.” Undyne snorts at the understatement. She’s seen how they look at each other. “Lilith sees Sans as a mate, which adds another layer of protection. Battle mages are notorious for being violently protective of their mates, and I have no doubt that Lilith is feeling like she failed Sans by allowing him to be hurt. So, she’s digging in to protect him.”

Undyne nods, “So. Why are you helping me?”

Ryder almost tells her _you are a Den mate in need_ but isn’t sure that Undyne is ready to hear that yet. She seems uncertain of them, understandably so with the history between mages and monsters. Instead he tells her, “It’s the right thing to do. We are not moving forward; we are simply collecting your friends who are in need.”

Undyne nods again, frowning a little, “So. With these mage classes. Can you all learn different magic?”

Ryder nods again, relaxing a little, “Yes. But the skill required, and the magic consumption is much greater and takes much more focus to accomplish. Lilith, for example, has a mother who is a spell caster. She takes after her battle mage father, but she can cast spells easier than Felix. Lilith has no healing skill and her shields are shaky at best. My mother was an illusionist, my father a botanist so I can make things grow with much more skill then the rest of my Den. Or make things die.”

Undyne hums, glancing a head of them; she’s opening her mouth to ask something more when Ryder feels the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He’s grasping Undyne’s arm suddenly, freezing in place as he glances wildly around.

Undyne pauses, her voice low, “What’s wrong?”

His eyes flashed orange, magic crackling at his fingertips as he unholstered one of his swords, “Something’s following us.”

Undyne straightened up, glancing around as she summoned a spear, “You think it’s Chara?”

Ryder shrugged, glancing around, “Hard to say.”

They spun around when they saw movement at the corner of their eyes, but found nothing but gold dust in the air that had Ryder relaxing at the sight of, “Oh for fuck…” Ryder is cut off by raucous laughter and someone pouncing on his back.

With a grunt, Ryder takes Felix’s weight and doesn’t bother to support him as Felix stretches over his brothers back, “Hello Felix.” Ryder sighed while Undyne gave them an uncertain look.

“Hello Ryder.” Felix giggled, snuggling into her older brother’s back, “You’re growing soft.” He sing-songed, “I’ve been following you since Snowdin and you haven’t noticed.” His voice grew cold and cruel, “If I wanted you dead, you’d be none the wiser.”

Ryder shook his brother from his back, Felix landed on his feet with another laugh, coming to stand between Undyne and Ryder with a wide smile, “Soooo. Who we saving?” he glanced to Undyne with a grin, “Got a girlfriend Undyne?”

Undyne snarled as Ryder cuffed his brother upside the head, “She’s not my girlfriend.” It was quick and defensive, making Felix’s smirk widen.

“Of course. We’re just going on a suicide mission for shits and giggles.” Shoving his hands in his pockets, Felix turned on the balls of his feet to walk down the path just ahead of them, “I suppose it doesn’t matter who we’re going after in the end. We’ll get the chance to give a little pay back to the bitch who hurt our sisters mate, so that’ll have to be enough.”

With one last merry smirk, Felix turned away and began to sing, “ _Yeah, I'm gonna take my horse to the old town road_ _, I'm gonna ride 'til I can't no more._ ”

“So, wait, you’re coming with us?” Undyne called after him.

Felix turned to them, and instead of answering her question just sang back, _“I got the horses in the back,_ _Horse tack is attached, Hat is matte black, Got the boots that's black to match, Ridin' on a horse, ha!  
You can whip your Porsche, I been in the valley, You ain't been up off that porch, now.” _

Undyne blinked at him as Felix turned slowly away, still singing, “ _Can't nobody tell me nothin'_ _  
You can't tell me nothin', Can't nobody tell me nothin', You can't tell me nothin'.”_

Undyne blinked at his back before she addressed Ryder, her voice slow and confused, “Your brother’s weird.”

Ryder nodded at her words, “You’ve no idea Undyne, but if Felix is here we’ve a better chance at getting Alphys back.” He moved to follow Felix, Undyne moving in step with the larger mage, “Felix is more vicious than Lilith, he won’t hesitate at killing regardless of who is asking him not to.” Ryder paused before continuing, “If he’s here, he must feel the threat is great enough to us that he’s willing to leave Lilith and Sans to Sloan and Lola.”

Her brow furrowed, and Undyne gave him an odd look, “But, wouldn’t he be able to leave them to Sloan and Lola anyways?”

Ryder shook his head no, “Felix and Lilith are the battle mages, they’re the ones who defend the Den when we’re hurt. They’re the first line of defense, and usually the last, so if he _is_ leaving Lilith and Sans to Sloan and Lola, he’s afraid for us more then Lilith.”  

“Meaning?” Undyne asked slowly.

“Meaning, he can sense a bigger fight then I can.”

Undyne frowned at the illusionist and quietly followed the two mages to Hotland, still hoping that they would find Alphys before Chara found them.

-

The lab looked abandoned; the windows were dark and broken, the shattered glass still spilt across the hot rocky ground like a horrifying kaleidoscope.

“Wow.” Felix said sounding bored, giving Undyne a sideways glance, “this place is pretty.”

Undyne growled at him, baring her teeth in a way that makes Felix smile pleasantly back at her, “Its not meant to be pretty. It’s supposed to be functional.”

Felix makes another noise like he doesn’t believe her, and behind him Ryder sighs inwardly, “Why couldn’t Lilith have come with us?”

Glancing to his older brother, Felix’s grin widens, “Because the little fuck-face, I mean, the Prince did some horrible shit to Sans, and now that he’s a real fucking boy again, thinks they can be pals.” The smile on Felix’s face grew bitter and his eyes flashed gold, “And I don’t think you could pry Lilith from Sans’s side with a crowbar.”

His head tipped to the side as Felix considered, contemplating the idea, “In fact. I’m fairly certain that if given the opportunity Lilith would take that crowbar and beat a few people with it. Mainly the Prince. Bobby bunny. Anyone who sided with Olivia.” He ticked off the names on his fingers, his grin growing, “I’m just saying. The underground is lucky that they got the sane battle mage falling in love with the little skeleton boy. If he was my boyfriend, I’d have burned this mother fucker down by now.”

Undyne growled at the mage, “Hey. We have procedure to follow, everyone is entitled to a due process.”

“Mmhmm. Sure.” Felix was mocking her, Undyne was certain, “Unless you violently rape someone. Pretty sure a crowbar to the face is the _only_ answer. But hey, what do I know right?” his smirk grew wide, “’Sept maybe Lilith had a better idea. I mean, a drill through the chest is some Bioshock bullshit right there.” He glanced back at the broken lab, “Good for her right?”

Undyne growled at the battle mage, who only smirk wider, “Besides, I took all of Lilith’s C4. So, it’s like she’s here.” He glanced to his older brother, “Well, now what?”

“Of course, you did.” Ryder sighed shaking his head, “Well. Sans said the true lab was under this one.” His light eyes shimmered orange and the smirk fell from Felix’s mouth, and he straightened for orders. “Take point. Stay three steps ahead, two to the left.”

Felix nodded, unhooking his 12Gauge from his back, cocking it with the _click-clack_ that sent a shiver up Undyne’s spine. Ryder was unhooking his own weapon, a heavy-duty DP-12 double barrel shot gun. He flicked the safety off, “Weapons hot.”

Felix nodded, “Weapons hot.” His voice emotionless and smooth as he took position as Ryder instructed him.

Nodding, Ryder turned to Undyne, “Alright Undyne, this is your first time working with us, but here are the ground rules. The illusion will only work so long as we are quiet and still. You move when we move, and you don’t break rank. You could get us all killed if you do.”

He glanced at the building with a cool understanding, “I know someone important is in there, but you don’t do anything that will endanger us. If you do, Felix is likely to kill you before you get the chance.”

Undyne think’s he’s joking, but the quirk of Felix’s brow tells her otherwise and with a hard swallow she nods to Ryder. “Good. We don’t draw attention to ourselves. We move as one, quietly. You will do exactly as I say, and we’ll get your friends out alive.”

Undyne nods again, “Got it.”

“Good. This is your first time with us, so you’ll bring up the rear. Anything that comes at us from behind, touch my elbow. That’s the signal for us to freeze. Alright?” Undyne nods again, her own face becoming impassive and her soul is calming. “Good. Two steps back, one to my right. Get your spear ready. If we need to kill, we will want to do quietly. Summoning magic makes noise.”

The spear is in Undyne’s hands faster than even she thinks she can manage, and she takes up her position just to Ryder’s right. He nods, and she can feel the wash of magic that doesn’t belong to her trickle over her body.

She takes a breath to keep her soul from pounding in her chest, and Ryder is whispering, “Let’s go Felix.”

Felix is silent when he nods to his brother and pressed the butt of his weapon to his shoulder. Turning slightly sideways to make himself a smaller target, he walks quickly to the building, one foot over the other; Ryder is right behind him, his own weapon pointed at the ground and not at his brother’s back or the pack slung easily over his shoulders.

They move slowly, and the door to the lab creeks when Felix nudges it open and they all wince as the nails on chalk board sound. Felix is though the door first, rifle raise as he slowly makes his way inside, sweeping the room in quick, efficient movements, “Clear.” He called back quietly as Ryder squeezes through the gap, Undyne on his heels.

The lab has been destroyed; Alphys’s computer is demolished and the screen still sparks. Old paper litter the floor, and something hissed oxygen in one of the corners of the wide room. The sight of it all made Undyne’s soul squeeze like a tight rubber band wrapped uncomfortably around her soul.

Felix carefully stepped over broken action figures, not wanting to draw attention if Chara was in the lab. Ryder followed suit, stepping over the broken toys, sweeping the room with his eyes, looking for anything that could be a threat.

Undyne pauses a moment to pick up one of the toys, and the smiling face of a cat girl beam’s back up at her, and Undyne feel’s the pain in her soul double; the toy’s leg was cracked, and she was missing an arm. This had been one of Alphys’s favorites, she had been so excited to find it at the dump and she had spent hours putting it back together, and Undyne isn’t sure she can explain the feeling that bands around her chest. Something like grief maybe, or fury. Maybe a mixture of both.  

“Undyne,” Ryder hissed, and her head snapped up at her name as she’s startled, “No distractions. Let’s not get us killed.”

Undyne stuffs the toy into one of her pockets and nods, “Right. Won’t happen again.” She falls in line behind Ryder as they clear the top floors of the lab. Only when they’re all certain that nothing is there with them, do they slip quietly into the elevator.

Undyne takes another breath as the doors slip shut and plunges them into the dim light of the broken elevator, the mages eyes glowing gold and orange, brightening their faces eerily as they ride the elevator into the unknown below them.

Ryder and Felix are like stone as they descend, grim and firm, and Undyne knows that this is her only chance to find Alphys.

The doors of the elevators slide open with an out of place merry ding, and Felix has his weapon back up and is sweeping the hall way slowly. Ryder is behind him, moving in the same step by step method.

Undyne takes a deep breath and follows the mages into the dim, stuffy room and she forces herself to relax. She buries her anxiety and loosens her grip on her spear.

This is their only chance to save Alphys, and Undyne can only have faith that they’ll find her; she takes her first few hesitant steps into the true lab, just as careful as the two mages before her.

She manages to fight the flinch at the screaming the echoes through the dark halls, and they were unable to determine the direction of the scream. It has Undyne swallow hard and follows the mages who don’t hesitate even at the horrific sound that bounces off the walls.

They don’t waver as they walk deeper into the gloom of the true lab, and Undyne thanks the angel that Felix and Ryder on their side.

She isn’t sure what they are going to find in the bowels of the true lab, but they’ll kill any threat and free any monsters. They’ll win, that much Undyne is sure. It doesn’t matter how gloomy or how oppressive the true lab feels.

It doesn’t matter if everything in her is telling her that this is wrong, and its time to evacuate. She wont leave Alphys down here, and with two mages, they’ll find her. They’ll win.

That much, Undyne is sure.


	23. Out of the Frying Pan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne, Felix and Ryder continue their journey through the True Lab.

The first half of the lab produces nothing, no hint, no sign not even a shadow of something here and Undyne refuses to feel disappointed. The lab is big, bigger than she thought it would have been and they _heard_ screams. Someone is down here, and Undyne is determined to find Alphys.

They had found the keys to get into the second half of the lab, like a stupid puzzle that Papyrus would have loved; but the second half of the lab was creepier. The shadows thicker, the air damper and dank, thick with fear.

Undyne swallowed hard, gripping her spear a little tighter.

“I don’t like this Ryder.” Felix whispered from the front, his gold eyes illuminating his face as he slowly creeped down the hallway, coming to a large room with a number of beds, “Something bad happened here. Something’s wrong.”

He kept the 12guarge tight to his shoulder as he swept the room, and it pained Undyne to agree with him. Something was wrong here.

Ryder nodded at his brothers back, his own eyes sweeping the room carefully, “Where is everyone? We should have found someone by now. But there’s nothing.”

“Not even dust.” Undyne muttered from behind them, moving slowly through the room, relieved at that fact at least, when something caught her eye.

Its small and black, like a shadow but it moves wrong. Like sludge in a sewer, slow and viscous, like spoiled magic. Undyne reaches for Ryder’s elbow and taps it twice to bring his attention to the slumping, sludgy thing that looks like the shadow of a child.  

Ryder freezes, his eyes going wide at the thing that stumbles through the lab and his magic ripples; Felix feels it and stills. His eyes go wide and Undyne knows he has seen the thing as well.

He mouths to them, _What the fuck?_

Undyne gives him a weak, slow shrug as the thing ambles past them, bumping into one of the beds on its way out. It doesn’t even turn towards them, the illusion keeping them hidden from even its eyes as it leaves the room, leaving behind thick, wet footprints in its wake.

When its gone, none of them move for a full minute, not daring to attract its attention, before Felix says quietly, “What the fuck was that?” 

“I have no idea.” Undyne muttered as she shook her head no, her face pulled into a grimace as shock and worry fill her, “But it smelt like spoiled magic.”

“We need to find Alphys and get the fuck out of here.” Ryder muttered to them both, nodding towards the way the thing shambled, “Maybe it knows where to go.”

“It bumped into a fucking bed.” Felix hissed at his brother, but he resets his weapon against his shoulder, “Un-fucking-believable. What the fuck would that thing know.” He muttered and slowly worked his way through the room after the thing, Ryder right behind him and Undyne at his heels.

Ryder rolled his eyes as they slipped around the beds, moving slowly, “If you leave a guard, you don’t leave the one that is the obvious threat.”

Felix grunted, moving slowly after the thing, following the thick goopy footprints, one careful step after another. Slowly sweeping the rooms and hallways, freezing when another two more shadows lumbered by, forcing the three warriors to press into the walls of the hall. They lumbered past, moving slowly in their slumping, slow manner.

Felix took his potion, slowly moving through the hall once they passed and Undyne took a moment to mutter, “They’re coming in groups now?”

Ryder didn’t move as three more shuffled into the hall, Felix freezing against the wall as they went passed. Ryder smirked, “Told you. You consolidate power. You want to find your girlfriend?”

“She’s not…” the denial was instant, and Ryder didn’t believe her in the least bit.

“We follow the shadow children. They’re _congregating_.” He assured, and nodded down the hallway once the trio disappeared, “We need to keep moving.”

Felix was already creeping down the hall, weapon up and unhesitant despite the fear that was thick in the air of the lab, the taste of violence. Undyne grit her teeth at the thought of Alphys down here, trapped for four months, when _she_ had been helpless in Snowdin.

Undyne sighed, eye gleaming with anger and wondered if this was how Lilith felt falling back into the underground and found that Sans had been captured. Left in the hands of his abuser for four months.

She wonders if this is how Sans felt watching Lilith fall into the void, and knowing he was too hurt and weak to go after her. That horrible, helpless, wretched feeling of not being able to do a damn thing to help the most important person.

“I. I’m s-sorry. I. I. I know that i-its. I know it hurts.” The voice was small and miserable, and it was like a shot to the soul for Undyne.  

Undyne felt herself stiffen, and it took every ounce of self-control to not go charging into the room after that small, frightened voice. Instead, she gripped at Ryder’s elbow and squeezed hard enough to bruise; the mage nodded, and Felix’s eyes dipped into a darker color, like swirling pools of melted gold.

Felix edged open the door that Alphys’s voice and sucked in a breath through his teeth before he steeled himself and slipped into the room. He glanced back and pulled his weapon flushed to his body as he edged around the walls of the room.

Ryder motioned to follow him, and he followed Felix’s movements, flattening himself against the wall. His eyes widened when he saw what Felix saw, side stepping into the room and held his hand up with a finger to his mouth to indicate _keep quiet_.

Undyne nodded and clenched her teeth together as she slipped in the room, almost gasping at the sight of Alphys in the small room with nearly a dozen of the shadow things and a trembling Vulcan.

The Vulcan doesn’t look good, sickly and pale, whimpering as a needle that is stuck into his body draws magic out and drops wetly into a vial. The magic spoils nearly instantly, turning from orange to black, becoming thick and full of rot.

The shadow creatures hoover around it, clawing at the magic hungrily with suddenly sharp claws and tongues that uncoil from gaping maws in their faces. 

“S-stop it.” Alphys tries to shoo the things away from the Vulcan and the spent magic, one of them snapping at her fingers for her trouble.

With a gasp, Alphys pulls her hand away, tears gathering in her eyes as she cradles it close to her body. Wide, frightened eyes glance to the Vulcan, “I. I’m so sorry.”

The Vulcan whimpers, and his eyes slip shut as his body falls limp.

“I have an idea.” Felix whispers to his brother, pressed flat to the wall.

“No.” it’s an automatic, instinctive reaction.

Felix tilts his head, frowning and Undyne mirrors his action. “What?” he hisses, almost sounding insulted.

“Killing them all is not an idea.” Ryder hisses back, again a normal reaction to Felix’s ideas.

Rolling his eyes, Felix managed to quietly huff, “Well, I’m all out of ideas then.”

Pausing, Ryder glances around and sighs, “We don’t know how to kill them.” He points out quietly.

“Please. Like that’s ever stopped me before.” Felix rolls his eyes, managing to look huffy despite being quiet. “Come on. They’re made of magic. If I can do enough physical damage they won’t be able to keep their bodies together.”

Ryder sighed, annoyed and glanced to the closed door, “Can you do it quietly?”

Felix snorted and grinned at his brother, wide and sharp, and Undyne felt a shiver go down her spine.

“Make it quick.” Ryder hissed to Felix’s utter delight.

His grin was wide as he quietly set his weapon down and cracked his knuckles, “Oh this’ll be fun.” He muttered as his eyes flooded black.

Undyne knew that Lilith was good; fast and strong. Controlled in a way a seasoned warrior was, but she didn’t have Felix’s viciousness. One moment he was leaning back against the wall, lax and loose, the next moment he was throwing himself at the nearest shadow creature.

His fingers dug into the throat of the first one, gold magic thumbing through his body as he pushed his fingers into the creature’s throat and pulled its head from its body. It died with a gurgle of fluid that sprayed at Felix’s face like blood as the body fell to dust.

“One.” He counted merrily, already reaching for the second, throwing it into the wall to stun it, the other creatures in the room turning to him as he summoned a battle axe, swinging it with practice ease first through the third, moving with the momentum to take the head of the second one he had thrown into the wall.

“Two and Three.” He counted merrily, his smile wide and dangerous.

Alphys barley had time to gasp as Felix threw his axe at the fourth, hitting it square in the chest, the rest of the creatures hissed at him, jaws unhinging to reveal long, dangerous fangs. Felix frowned at the axe in the chest of the fourth, humming softly as his head tilted.

“Zombie rules then.” He said to himself and nodded, then he charged with a smile. Skidding along the slick tiles, Felix brings his elbow up, snapping the head of the creature next to where his battle axe has impaled its brethren, it stumbles back into two more at its back.

Felix spins, snatching the axe from the chest of the fourth and continued with his moments to slam the axe into another that was charging at him with a merry, “Four.”

One leaps at him but is caught easily and thrown into two more that charge at him; grabbing the one with a gaping hole in its chest, oozing spoiled magic, Felix slams its head once, twice, three times into the table the Vulcan was unresponsive and Alphys watched horrified from.

Its head snapped open, spewing the black liquid up at Felix before the body fell to dust, “Five.” Felix sounds like he’s started to swallow gravel, the demon flashing over his face.

Undyne watches on, almost horrified as Felix fights, calling out his kills in a merry, gravelly voice. He’s quickly efficient, violent and cruel, leaving a mess of spoiled magic splattered across the ground.

“He’s fucking terrifying.” Undyne hisses darkly, eye wide as she watches Felix obliterate the creatures.

Ryder is unsurprised, calm as ever as he nods to her, “He is.” Then he pauses, gives Undyne a confused look, “You know that Lilith has higher LoVe right?”

Undyne’s head snaps around, eye wide, “What?” she hisses angrily to hide her nervousness. “How?” 

Glancing to Felix as he merrily calls out ‘ten’, Ryder gives her a steady, brave look, “She’s a better killer.” It’s a simple statement to Ryder, a truth that is undeniable to them, “Felix is a deterrent. He’s vicious so armies hesitate to fight. Over the top and messy. Warriors _know_ when Felix has been on the battlefield. He leaves evidence. Lilith, she’s the consequence. You’ve seen that shit with the drills? That takes control, to push your magic out like that. That’s Lilith, cold control layered in rage and no hesitation. Felix is flashy, Lilith is about quality.”  

Felix laughed as he tore the head from the last one, it fell to dust in his arms and he made a show of dusting himself off. Ryder glanced back to Undyne, “Lilith could have done this quieter.”

“Faster too.” Felix chimed in, glancing to his brother and Undyne with a twisted smile, “But she’s all work, work, work. Never has any fun.” He gave a little stretch of his arms with a grin, “Like, girl live a little.”

“P-please. D-don’t hurt us.” A small voice had Felix turning slowly with a frown, the darkness fading from his eyes and back to soft gold.

“Oh!” Felix said brightly, “I forgot about you!” he gave Alphas a quick look over, crossing his arms, “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Hurt?” Alphys looked down, small hands wringing in front of her dirty lab coat. “N. No. I’m not.”

“Good.” Gold eyes blinked at her, and Felix grinned, “Yo. Undyne. Your girlfriend is super cute.”

Alphys head snapped up, hope shining painfully in her eyes, and before Undyne can say a thing, her voice oddly strong, “Undyne? She’s here! She. She came?”

Confusion crossed Felix’s face, brows drawing together and for a moment he looked softer, younger and when he smiled it was gentle, “Yeah. She sure did. You’re just not being affected by Ryder’s charm.”

Ryder rolled his eyes, lowering his magic and revealing themselves to Alphys, “It is not a charm.”

Felix crosses his arms and shrugs a single shoulder, “Eh.”

Their words were lost to the two monsters as Undyne shimmered into view. Alphys’s felt her anxiety cool, and her soul was soothed at the sight of the monster she loved more then anything else. Tears gathered in her eyes, and she wrung her hands harder, and her voice was thick when she quietly said Undyne’s name.

Undyne’s voice is just as soft, just as hurt and lost, and before she knows what she’s doing, she’s walking across the lab towards the monster she loves most. Dropping to her knees, she wraps her arms tightly around Alphys, her voice rough when she whispers, “I’m sorry.”

Clinging back just as tightly, Alphys buried her face into Undyne’s thick shoulder and sobbed softly, “It’s not your fault.”

They cling to each other, desperate and afraid, afraid of what could have happened. How easily it could have happened. Hope that things were going to be okay, that maybe they had a chance. They cling to each other tightly, and Undyne swears that she will never let Alphys go again.

“That’s super sweet, but can we get the fuck out of here now?” Felix askes, and Undyne turns to glare at him.

He holds up the little Vulcan that has been freed from the needle in his body, and Felix looks impatience, “We got your girl, we got this little fella. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“Do you have to ruin everything?” Undyne hisses at him still drawing Alphys into a tighter hug, crushing her to his chest.

Felix pauses to think about it, mocking her again Undyne is sure, before he says, “Yes. Yes, I do. Can we go now?”

Suddenly Alphys is struggling, pushing against Undyne’s chest and shaking her head no, “Not yet! W-we can’t.” she blinks at the confused look at the three, before hastily adding, “The. The others. The other prisoners. We can’t just l-leave them here.”

Felix sighs, sounding put out if anything, and Undyne is sure its because he’s a brat, “Oh, okay.” And he hands off the little Vulcan to Ryder to pick up his weapon. “Where we going?” he asks as he pulls a small block of C4 strapped to dragon fire from his bag.

“Y-you’ll help me?” Alphys sound hesitant, like she doesn’t believe them.

Ryder is giving Felix a look, watching him plant two more blocks with dragon fire in the corners of the room and checking the detonator. “Yes,” Ryder says slowly, still watching his brother, “We will help.” 

Felix nods happily, “Besides, we should do this right the first time. Especially if I’m going to blow this place up with dragon fire.”

“Y-you can’t!” Alphys sounds upset, trying to push away from Undyne’s hold.

Felix blinks at her, “Gotta. True lab is haunted.”

Alphys and Undyne both open their mouth to argue, but are quickly cut off by Ryder, and he can see Felix smirking and gearing up to be a brat and wheedle, “We need to go.” He readjusts his grip on the Vulcan, “Tell us about the shadows. What are they?”

Alphys hesitates, then sighs and buries her head in Undyne’s chest so she doesn’t have to watch Felix add another bomb, “It was Chara’s idea.” Felix went still, and said nothing, “S-she wanted to harvest magic. To. To be able to. To stop the stronger monsters and mages. She. She had me harvest magic from monsters, b-but they were unwilling. So. So the magic spoils nearly immediately.”

She gripped at Undyne a little tighter, feeling afraid and ashamed, “They aren’t powerful. But they rely on numbers to overwhelm. With just a little magic Chara can create them fairly easily. B-but she wants monster magic.”

Ryder hums, “They aren’t very strong. They die easy enough.”

Felix nods in agreement, “Yeah, it was easy to kill them.”

“Strength is-isn’t the point. It’s numbers.” Alphys said softly, wiping a tear from her eye, “There’s dozens of them, and not just here in the lab. They’re in the Capital too. They’re supposed to overwhelm and tare apart.”

The mages hummed as they considered all the options.

“We need to get back and bring this information to the others. Where are the prisoners kept?” Ryder asked, readjusting the heavy Vulcan in his arms. The monster groaned but didn’t wake.

Alphys clung to Undyne’s hand a little tighter, “N-not far. I. I can show you.”

Felix grinned and readjusted his weapon as Ryder’s magic settled over them, and they disappeared.

-

Ryder and Felix shared a nervous look as Undyne unlocked the last cell, freeing the last Tsunderplane; they glance to the amalgamate gathered around them, looking sluggish and so far harmless.

Gold and orange eyes glance around, uncertain and hesitant, Felix leans towards his brother to murmur, “There’s a lot of them here.”

Ryder nods quietly, glancing to the frightened faces, “If even one of them attracts attention, there are only three of us that can defend them.”

Felix huffs, glancing at the door, “The elevator will make noise, and its going to take a few trips to get them all top side. That number of uses could attract the shadows.”

Ryder nodded, “And with this many monsters, I don’t think my illusion will hold. It’ll crack the second that anyone of them move or make noise.”

Felix sighed, thumbing his rifle in thought, “We use the hall then. Force them into narrow corridors and more manageable numbers.” He glanced to Undyne as another monster thanked her for coming for them, too afraid to approach the two mages, “Undyne’s spears can help narrow it further. Force them to come at us one or two at a time.”

“Or block the route to us completely.” Ryder pointed out calmly, suddenly wishing he had brought his rifle with the scope or his mini Gatling gun.  

Felix rolls his eyes and shifts his stance so that he cocked his hip, pressing a hand to his belt, “Killjoy.”

Ryder sighed and shook his head at his brother, the first flicker of uncertainty brushing at his soul. Things were going to easy, too smoothly.

This is when things usually went sideways on them, and Ryder pressed his lips together tightly as the monsters around them chuckled with nervous excitement.

-

When the fourth elevator ride to the surface clanked its way up the shaft is when they heard the inhumane scream from somewhere in the lab that had everyone tensing.

Spears shot up from the ground, blue and eerie in the dark, damp hall way, cutting off any route to the gathered monsters at their backs; the non-warrior monsters clustered tightly at the elevator doors, afraid and feeling helpless as Ryder and Felix stood back to back, each facing down the opposite side of the hall, weapons pressed tightly to their shoulders. Undyne stood between them, a spear in each hand, looking grim but ready.

The walk to the elevators had been smooth and quiet, giving the non-combatants hope of escape as Felix quietly, but messily, dispatched the few shadows they came across. Now, fear came from them in thick waves as they shook behind the warriors that stood between them and certain death.

The first wave of shadows fell to the wall of spears that separated them, and the mages tightened up, weapons pressing harder into their shoulders as the shadows fell to dust when they tore at the spears that acted as a wall between them.

They screamed, maws opening wide with sharp teeth and oily tongues as they hissed and growled. The elevator at their backs dinged and the last group of monsters quickly flooded the tiny space, Undyne shoving Alphys into it as well as the creatures broke through the first set of spears.

Felix pulled the trigger of his rifle, the weapon shimmered in gold before it went off, taking the head of the shadow creature that was pulling at the last line of spears. Deep within the bowels of the lab, screams and shrieks echoed off the walls.

Felix smirked, and pulled the trigger again as the shadows desperately filled the space left by their brethren, falling to dust.

The elevator doors close, and Undyne takes a breath, knowing that Alphys is safe and will get out of here if they don’t make it up the elevator shaft; she takes comfort in the two mages she stands between, and summons another wall of spears to turn another wave of creatures to dust.

The rifles echo loudly in the tight hall of the lab, the spears are bright as they tare through the creature’s magical bodies, but they seem to just keep coming.

Its only minutes before the elevators return, but it feels like an eternity as they pull back as the shadows break the last line of spears and the three of them press their backs to the doors. They’re ready to fight, to the death if needed, ready to defend the citizens of the underground from a cruel army that would tare them apart; the doors to the elevator ding open as Felix and Ryder fire their rifles, the creature’s heads exploding with every pull of the trigger and they reload quickly, trying not to loose time as they loose ground.

Undyne slips inside first, spears shooting up between the things and the mages to buy them the time needed to slip inside, the doors closing as the things chew their way though the last line of defense; it feels like an eternity for the doors to click shut and the elevator begins to move upwards.

It’s tense in the confined space of the elevator as it begins to move upwards, the cheery music at odds with the atmosphere that feels thick and clotting around them until Felix laughs.

“Fuck that was close.” He’s smiling brightly, his eyes still dark gold, and it breaks the tension around them.

Undyne smiles too, laughing a little and knowing that Alphys would be safe now. All they had to do was get back to Snowdin, and it had Ryder relaxing next to her.

“It could have been worse.” Ryder agrees, his accent thicker as the tension from around his chest begins to lessen.

Felix is still bright and sarcastic, “That seemed too easy.”

Ryder’s smile fell slowly, his mouth pulled into a deepening frown, “Felix. Why would you say that?”

Felix shrugged, “I enjoy tempting fate.”

A single thump under their feet was all the warning they had, and Ryder sighed deeply, glowering at his brother, “You’re the worse.” He said flatly at claws tore through the soft metal of the elevator.

Felix smiled and clicked the safety off his weapon, pointing it too the claws that ripped into the floor. A dark maw pressed into the torn metal; a scream ripped from its chest as it reached up towards the three warriors. Undyne and Ryder pressed themselves to the walls of the elevator with a hiss as a clawed hand swung at them.

Something knotted tightly in Felix’s chest as he leveled the weapon at the floor and fired. The creature’s head exploded into dust, and he fired again as another scrambled to takes its place. As he cracked the weapon to reload it, Ryder fired twice into the floor, catching a glimpse of the creatures scaling the wall after them.

“This is your fault.” Ryder said calmly as Felix fired again into the floor. Felix flashed him a bright smile, dust smearing across his face before he fired again, and Ryder cursed in Russian.

The doors dinged open after what felt like a lifetime, and Ryder was shoving Undyne through the doors before they opened fully. He was right behind her, yelling for her to run.

Felix was behind them, turning to fire into the elevator as the creatures began to swarm the doors. Undyne slowed to throw a wall of spears at the creatures before she yelled at him, “Felix leave it, run!”

With a snarl, the mage turned and ran, following the other two; behind them the creatures broke through the wall of magic, feet pounding at their heels as the three warriors ran as hard as they could.

Gold eyes glanced back and Felix _knew_ that if they didn’t do something these things would be on their tail the whole was home. They would be leading an army directly to their door, and like hell that Felix would allow that.

The tattoo at his wrist began to glow in soft gold, illuminating the bold letters that made up WAR as he began to slow. He skidded to a stop at the door as Undyne and Ryder bolted through them.

Ryder turned to close the doors, catching Felix’s eyes and felt panic swell and chock him, and all he could get out was his brothers name before Felix pulled the doors shut.

“The fuck are you doing punk!” Undyne yelled at him through the doors, the monsters at their backs visibly afraid as she tried to pull the doors open.

“Buying you time,” Felix yelled back as he thread his rifle through the handles of the door. “Keep running!”

He danced away from the doors as the first creature slammed into it, missing him by scant inches and screaming in rage. He traced back to the furthest set of stairs, laughing as he grabbed a creature by the head and slammed it into the railing, drawing the attention of the others.

Their shrieks drowned out Felix’s laughter as he darted up the stairs, the detonator for the bombs in the basement firmly in his hand.

The moment Felix slammed the door on them, Ryder felt grief squeeze his soul and he thought about all the times he had seen just this; a coven mate or an allies’ last stand to give them time to escape, to sacrifice their own life for the lives of others.

Ryder buried it, there was no time to feel such things, there was no time to for any of them to grieve over the horrors of this war. He turned and grabbed Undyne’s arm, turning them towards the monsters they had rescued, “We need to keep moving.”

“We can’t leave him!” Undyne pried her arm from Ryder’s, looking desperately back at the lab as Alphys’s hands replaced Ryders.

The mage shook his head, and he buried the grief under a layer of anger and swore Chara would pay for this, “Either he has a plan or he’s dead. We don’t spit on his sacrifice by getting killed.”

Anger floods Undyne’s features, rage and fear war on her features, “So we what? Leave him?”

Hurt bands tightly around Ryder’s chest and he swallows it back, “Yes. We don’t want to be here if he fails.”

“Why!” Undyne snaps before she can help herself, anger burning hotly in her soul.

“Dragon fire burns-“Ryder is cut off by the sound of smashing glass that has everyone jumping, and magic summoned to Undyne’s hands.

They turn in time to see Felix falling from the second store window, the only one still whole and there is a flash of red light as the detonator triggers.

Ryder is barely yelling for them all to get down when there is a roar of something large deep in the bowels of the true lab, and green and purple flames erupt through the lab.

The flames lick at Felix’s back as he hits the ground hard, his legs snapping with the impact and he crumples; the fire burns though the building in purples and greens, hissing and popping hot enough that it has the monsters at Ryder’s back flinching back.

Ryder is up on his feet as they hear the shadows inside shriek and die, falling to dust as they collapse in on themselves, and he’s running towards his brother. Undyne is back on his heels and doesn’t understand when Ryder calls for his brother to release the intent.

Felix forces himself up to his hands and broken knees, blood is coming from his mouth and ears and he grimaces as he cackles at the burning building. His skin bubbles and melts, his armor scoring his body as the metal from his pauldrin melts into his skin. Still, the purple and green flames burn on, bright and hot.

Ryder stops next to his brother, not daring to touch as Felix laughs, high and cruel with more then a touch of madness.

“Felix!” Ryder yells at his brother and stops Undyne from trying to put the flames out, “Let go of your intent!”

“We need to put the fire out!” Undyne yelled to Ryder in confusion and panic choking her as the flames continued to lick and burn Felix, his laughter still high and hysterical.

Ryder shook his head, hands hoovering over his brother and wanting to touch, “Dragon fire will burn as long as the intent to use it there. Felix released it; he needs to release the intent to burn otherwise nothing will put it out.” The massive mage looked back to his brother, concern and fury waring on his scared features, “Felix, let. It. Go.”

Laughter continued to bubble from Felix even as the fire ate though his muscles, blackening the bones of his spine and shoulders. Helplessness swelled through Undyne, mixing with her frustration, when a crazy thought popped not her head. Ryder was panicking, watching his brother burn to death, but Undyne had a plan.

The battles mages were the ones that smelt like death to Undyne, were immersed in it like this. Like Undyne could have been, as Captain of the Royal Guard.

She grabs at Felix’s hand and she squeezes tight enough to draw his hazy gold eyes to her, “Felix. You did it punk. Ya did good. We’re safe now.” Battle mages were the protectors of their families. “We’re safe. You need to let it go now. I appreciate the passion kid, but you’ve done enough.”

The smile fell from his mouth and he blinked owlishly at her as the laughter petered out.

“You did good. Now let’s get you back to Lilith.” Undyne told him roughly, squeezing his hand as he continued to burn.

Felix blinked again, his voice hoarse like he had swallowed gravel, “Okay.” The purple and green flames petered out, leaving his back smoking and charred and the lab burning in orange flames.

Green magic was slowly shimmering over Felix’s back and his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he passed out into Undyne. The aquatic monster caught him as he slumped into her, and the lab burned behind them.

Ryder blinked at her, frowning as he quietly said, “You speak battle mage?”

Undyne snorted at him as she scooped Felix up, being careful of his burns, “Listen Ryder. I maybe a warrior, but I’m not stupid. I listen to everything you guys say.” She arranged Felix so his head lulled onto a muscular shoulder, his arms handing loosely by his sides, limp and too still against her. Both her arms under his thighs to keep him in her arms, “The battle mages are like me, and the only thing that would calm me down would be to know that my people were safe.”

She glanced to Alphys, who was safe and whole, wringing her hands nervously and Undyne smiled softly, “So it would have to work on Felix too.”

 Ryder blinked at her and smiled, “Thanks Undyne.”

The monster nodded and turned back towards the route to Waterfall, “Come on. Let’s get back before the demon shows up. Your brother won’t be able to manage that right now.” 

Ryder felt something deeper click into place, old magic that he hadn’t felt in a long, long time and he smiled, “Lets get back.”

Undyne smirked as well, feeling something slide into place, something that felt like home. She readjusted Felix in her arms so she could wrap a muscular arm around Alphys’s shoulders.

“Heh.” Undyne huffed, leading Alphys back the way they’d come, “Pretty sure they will never let us out on our own again.”

“Wh’s that?” Felix slurred into his shoulder, “Cuz we lit a building on fire?”

Undyne glanced back at the lab, her smirk sharper then it had been. All in all, it wasn’t a bad day. They may have lost the lab, but they gained much more.

She squeezed Alphys closer to her side, and Felix to her chest, feeling better at having Ryder at her side as her friend. She was glad Lilith had returned to them, that Sans had his mate back.

They’d win this war, that much Undyne was sure of.  

-

Felix made a small noise of pain only as they were coming back into Snowdin and the ice-cold air of the region licked across the bare skin of his healing back. He buried his face into the crook of Undyne’s neck, trying to find some kind of comfort.

Squeezing him against her chest, Undyne tucked his head under her chin, silently vowing to keep the kid safe until she could return him to his family.

Ryder was next to her, the Vulcan shivering in his arms and his hand wrapped tightly around Fuku’s hand as they made their way through the snow.

In the distance, Undyne could see the green shield shimmering, promising safety and home, people who cared about what happened to them. It made her sag a little in relief, they were almost home and the walk back to Snowdin had been blessedly calm.

She could see Sans again by the shield, a smoke in his hand and Lilith by his side. She could pinpoint the moment that Lilith realized that Felix was hurt, her lithe body suddenly stiffening before she was taring towards them.

The shield rippled around her when she passed it, running as hard and as fast as she could to their group, and the monsters at their backs murmured in fear. Lilith’s words were desperate when she caught up to them, fear coming off her in waves that was quickly turning to anger.

“Felix.” Lilith’s words are hard and clipped as she gently touches his back. The green magic is still shimmering over his flesh, slowly knitting his body back together, “What happened?”

Undyne doesn’t even know where to start, doesn’t know how to explain what the hell happened when Felix mutters, “Dragon fire.” Into her shoulder.

Lilith’s eyes roll so hard, Undyne is certain that she saw through space and time, “Idiot.” But it’s said in a tone of worry and affection.

Undyne huffs, and gently passes Felix off to his sister, Lilith taking his weight easily as she holds him. The mages pause to look at Ryder, the worry in her eyes directed first at him then Undyne, “You two good?”

They both nod, and Undyne’s hand quickly finds Alphys’s, “Yeah. We’re good.” She says, pulling the smaller monster into her side when Undyne feels her shiver.

Lilith nods, “Good. Welcome home.” She says quietly before turning on her heel and marching back to town.

The monsters from Hotland shiver in the cold, Snowdin air and it takes very little urging to get them moving and follow Lilith behind the shield.

Undyne can see Sans putting out his cigarette, his eye lights full of uncertainty as Lilith rushed to his house and Sans was on her heels the moment she was close enough.

They were gone and in Sans’s home before the rest of them even breeched the shield.

Ryder glanced at the monsters from Hotland then to the house and back to Undyne, “Are you okay to sort out the monsters from Hotland? I need to go look in on my Den.”

Undyne nodded and before she could shoo him away, Ryder was gone, nearly running towards Sans and Papyrus’s house.

Heaving a sigh, Undyne glanced around at the others, she firmed up her shoulders and squared up with the new group of monsters, “All right punks!” her voice carried as the monsters from Snowdin began to gather and come see  what was happening, “We’re going to get you all settled in to Snowdin before night falls. So, listen up.”

Their terrified faces all turned to Undyne, desperate for direction and it had been easy to wrangle the group of them into where they needed to be.

-

It hadn’t taken long to find places for the Hotland monsters to stay. The Inn had opened its doors to them, giving rooms away for free to the displaced monsters and the citizens of Snowdin had been more then happy to take monsters in.

Grillby had been driven nearly to tears when his niece, Fuku, had been reunited with him. It made Undyne feel good, feel useful. They had reunited families, brought justice to those who had wronged the underground and delivered another blow to Chara.

Yet, Undyne felt unsettled. Like something was wrong and she had left something unattended. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but it had her feet moving towards Sans and Papyrus’s house instead of curling up with Alphys once everyone else was settled.

The smaller monster had been confused when Undyne had insisted on going to the skeleton brother’s house with a strange determination that couldn’t be swayed. Like something was calling her, drawing her to the mages.

Coming up to their door, Undyne knocked once before letting herself in. Sloan looked up from their kitchen table, Lola at her side and Undyne was relieved when she saw magic spark at their fingers. It was soothed as soon as they saw it was her, and Sloan offered a gentle smile.

“Thank you for brining our brothers back Undyne.” Sloan said gently as Lola went back to the report from Ryder.

Undyne nodded, closing the door behind her and Alphys, “Yeah well. Punk helped me out, wasn’t gonna leave him there.”

Still, Sloan smiled, “Of course. It is appreciated non the less.” Those kind, dark eyes fell to Alphys, “Undyne, the others are upstairs. Alphys, would you like some tea while Undyne checks on them?”

It should have rankled Undyne, the presumption that she was going to let Alphys out of her sight after what had just happened. Yet, the thought of Alphys with Sloan and Lola settled in her chest, though she couldn’t say why.

Alphys seemed to relax at the idea, nodding quickly, “I. I would appreciate that.” She glanced to Undyne and offered a smile that was delicate, “T-that okay? While you go s-see your friends?”

Undyne nodded and gave Alphys a gentle nudge, “Sure is nerd. You’ll be safe with Sloan and Lola.” She told Alphys with a confidence that Undyne wasn’t sure where it came from. She couldn’t explain why she was so certain the two mages would protect Alphys, only that she was.

Alphys nodded and slowly took a seat with them as Undyne headed up stairs.

“Much to Papyrus’s horror, they’re in Sans’s room.” Sloan called up as Undyne made her way up the stairs.

Undyne laughed, feeling something like relief unspool from her soul. They were okay, her people were safe. She was feeling calmer but couldn’t say why when she reached Sans’s room. Soothed by something she didn’t understand, like some kind of strange magic had settled over them.

Undyne opened the door and breathed a sigh of relief; Felix was asleep on the mattress on the floor, Lilith sitting over his legs and Sans by her side. They both reacted the moment the doorknob turned, magic sparking at her fingers and his eye before they were soothed away when they saw it was her.

Ryder was asleep on the floor, his massive, heavy frame leaning onto Papyrus who sat next to him quietly reading. Papyrus didn’t look up at her, but quietly changed the page of his book.

“He okay?” Undyne asked quietly, nodded to Felix as he drooled into Sans’s pillow quietly. His back still healing from dragon fire.

Lilith nodded, “Dragon fire takes time to heal. His magic is combating it’s magic so it will take time for it all to equalize.” Her dark eyes turned back to Undyne, and her smile was tired, “Thanks for brining my brothers’ home.”

Undyne nodded and felt a weird camaraderie between the warriors in the room. Maybe that was it. Maybe it was because they were all warriors. “Yeah. Well. I wasn’t gonna leave them.” She murmured quietly, suddenly feeling a little uncertain.

“Still. Thanks.” Lilith said, then nodded her head, “You gonna come sit down?”

Undyne hesitated, thought about Alphys downstairs, safe with the other two mages, “Yeah sure. Alphys is downstairs and she’s…she’s safe.” It came out hesitant, almost like a question.

Sans yawned and leaned into Lilith, “Yeah. She’s safe with the mages.” He mumbled his eyes slipping shut, “Glad she’s okay.” He yawned again and softened against his mate.

Undyne nodded, slowly picking her way over to Papyrus, taking in the grossness of Sans room for the first time despite how Papyrus had cleaned it, “Sans. You’re a slob.”

Papyrus snorted as Undyne sat next to him, quietly flipping the page. Sans made a non-committal noise and settled against Lilith a little more thoroughly.

Something filled Undyne then, something like hope and magic and she believed that they could win.

She settled against Papyrus’s other side, deciding now would be a good time to have a nap. The monster at her side sighed and Papyrus was filled with the same magic. The same hope now that all his favorite people were under one roof.

Giving into a rare moment of laziness, Papyrus closed his book and leaned into Ryder to nap, enjoying the feeling of having the large muscular body next to his. Sighing in relief, knowing that Sloan and Lola guarded their front door, and Lilith guarded the bedroom, Papyrus fell asleep and he didn’t have nightmares.


	24. A Snowdin Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The calm before the storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers, 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this installment of the Ninety-Fourth time and the ride up to this point. This is the second last chapter I have planned, and I was having a bit of trouble figuring out to end the story. I was worried that my writers block was back and was wrecking havoc again, but I've figured out an end I think I'm happy with. 
> 
> On another note, if you are interested in some spoilers, I am taking part in an October writing prompt list and all the drabbles take place after the events of the Ninety-Fourth time. 
> 
> Otherwise, enjoy!

Sans watches Lilith carefully unwrap his wrist with cautious, gentle fingers slowly peeling away the soft dim green gauze from his control hand. The magic that saturated the soft material had been completed absorbed by the bones of his hands, knitting his wrist back together painlessly.

His white eye lights flicked to follow the slow movement of her hands, and for the first time in days Sans was feeling _better._ Not great, not by a long shot. He was still feeling unwell and fragile, ignoring everything that had happened to him in such a short amount of time. There just simply hadn’t been the time for him to even process what had happened to him. He hadn’t really had the chance to even think about the trauma that was just below the surface before the next cluster fuck hit.

Though, really that wasn’t much different from his usual bull shit. Every reset brought a brand-new bag of trauma to deal with. Torture, his own torture, had become something he expected when Chara was riding shot gun in Frisk’s body, and there was a 50/50 chance that if the Demon was in charge he was going to suffer.

If she didn’t catch him, he got the pleasant experience of watching everyone he loved be cut down by a demon that wore his friends face while he did fuck all to stop it. It was just so exhausting, and it never stopped. It. Just. Kept. Going.

Sans never had the chance to cope, to processes. He was always pushed through to the next cluster fuck as one ended.

Now though? Now Sans had lots of time to think, lots of time spend in bed even after he did his part in sending Undyne with Ryder to rescue Alphys. It had been a surprise when Felix had dipped, leaving Lilith and her sisters to join Ryder.

Still, Sans had a lot of time to think, a lot of time to reflect on everything and at first he had felt worse. He had given up so long ago, gave in to Chara’s whims and let her win. He could have done more, tried harder, he could have….

Sans sighed and tried to relax as Lilith pulled the gauze away from his bones, running a thumb along the underside of one of his fingers to look for any cracks.

He looked back at his knees, the gauze around his femur changed and a fresh layer applied since the crack wasn’t healed completed.

Lilith moved his fingers gently, watching how they moved, how the magic cushion between the bones stretched painlessly as she did so, and she hummed happily.

That was enough to make his soul ease a little, some of the tension bleeding away as he watched her. It made him feel a little better. Sure, he was a fuck up, but he was trying to be better. He had fought just as hard when Flowey had taken the souls way back when, had pushed through the pain and helped saved Frisk and Monster Kid.

He was the Judge for fuck sakes, Sans knew he could do better. He would do better, he _would._

Lilith quietly moved his wrist in gentle circles and smiled when his wrist moved unhampered, “Love, I think your hand is all healed up. How does it feel?”

Sans flexed his fingers and moved his wrist on his own accord, giving her a little shrug, “Doesn’t hurt.”

Lilith nodded, pulling his hand to her mouth to press a kiss to his knuckles. He melted a little at that gentle touch and he doesn’t know what he did to get so lucky to have this _chance_. “Good.” Lilith tells him with a smile as she reaches out to press her wrist to his forehead, nodding, “And your fever is coming down. How are you feeling?”

That was a loaded question and they both know it. Right now, she wants to know how he’s doing physically but Sans knows that once the hit the surface that band aid will need to be ripped off. Instead, he lifts his other hand and gives her a little see-saw motion, “Alright. Still got that nasty cough but I think I’m brining up less.”

She nods again and Sans knows that she’ll report that back to Lola as the closest thing to a healer that they have. “You’re looking better too.” And when that shy, small smile is directed at him it makes Sans feel better. “Okay, just let me give you a quick Check, then let’s try to summon something.”

Sans gives her a little nod and he feels the prickle of her Check wash over him, and he feels his soul constrict when she freezes. Every muscle locks up suddenly and her eyes go wide as she stares at his stats that are likely hoovering over his chest.

He tries to look down, worried and suddenly afraid at what his stats might say, but their backwards and he’s looking at them from the wrong angle. He can’t quiet make out what they say, but it can’t be good when Lilith is suddenly so still.    

His voice is hesitant when he finally speaks, afraid to know what is going on, “Evil mage?” there’s something akin to fear in his voice, and Sans isn’t sure if he can handle another blow right now.

Then Lilith gives a nervous little laugh, and her eyes are light when she glances up at him and her shock is wearing off into something like excitement. “Sans.” She breaths his name like its precious, like he’s precious and there is something unreadable in her eyes when she begins to read out his stats to him.

_Sans: The Judge_

_LV: 10_

_HP: 3_

_AT: 80_

_DF: 90_

_You will be judged. Harshly._

Sans freezes under her hands at her words, his hand gripping at hers hard enough that it should have had her wincing.

“My stats are up.” He told said softly, sure he wasn’t hearing her right.

Stunned, Lilith nodded at him as she beamed at him. “They are.”

Maybe, maybe that warm feeling in his chest was hope, after all this time, “My HoPe is up.” His voice is small and hesitant.

Lilith nods slowly, her eyes still wide and soft, her smile shy, “It is.” She whispers softly to him, almost like she’s afraid to scare his newly found HP off.

They look up at each other slowly, the shock wearing off to joy and Sans laughs nervously, “I don’t. I don’t understand. How this happened.”

Lilith shrugged as his stats faded, “I don’t know,” she admitted as she squeezed his hands.

She looked up to meet his eye lights, her face unusually soft as they stare at each other and Sans can feel his cheeks heat with something that has nothing to do will being sick. His soul swelled with that soft, powerful emotion that he isn’t entirely sure when he started to feel it. He isn’t sure when he started to love the mage on his bed, but he did, and he was so happy that she was home.

Sans wasn’t a bold monster, not by a long shot. He was apathetic at best and had been convinced that they would never have escaped the underground. That he was going to die at the hands of a demon, again, and again, and again.

He wasn’t going to get his happy ending. Or at least he wasn’t until Frisk was desperate enough to try a crazy, suicidal plan to get help. It wasn’t until Lilith fell into the underground with them, eventually dragging her fierce brothers and sisters down with her that Sans actually believed that maybe they’d have a chance.

Riding that wave of hope and love, Sans pushed himself up onto his knees, so he was level with Lilith, his hands pressing into her shoulders. He hesitated for a moment, searching her face for any hostility or resistance, their mouths so, so close together. They were both breathing softly, and Lilith bit her lip in anticipation, her eyes shone with want. It caused magic to gather heavily in his mouth, his tongue conjuring hotly before Sans pressed his mouth to Lilith’s.

Lilith sighed into their kiss, softening under his hands, the tension that clung to her slowly bleeding away. Her own hands wrapped around him firmly to grip at his shoulders tightly, and there is a moment of fear that Sans will be ripped away form her. The wound from that experience still ragged and bleeding, and Sans can feel her magic gathering around them aggressively. A hostility that will strike if they are attacked.

Sans relaxes into it, takes comfort in that aggression that surrounds him and knows that Lilith will kill anyone who tries to hurt him. That her family are all downstairs, that his family was downstairs, safe and ready to fight if need be.

Its enough for Sans to deepen their kiss, he feels safe enough to put himself back into a vulnerable position with the mage he’s attached to. Lilith’s lips part, and his conjured tongue presses in to the wet, velvety heat of her mouth to explore.

Their kiss is soft but deep, and it makes Sans’s soul throb with affection. With love. They pause to take a breath, soft and warm between them, and the magic in his bone’s leeches to the surface and Sans smiles when that same magic forms into small crimson hearts over her dark eyes before it fades back into her skin. Lilith smiles back at him, bright and warm before she presses her lips back to his teeth, her eyes slipping shut as her mouth moves against his.

Sans sighs, soft and happy, his phalange digging into her shirt as he draws her downward to his mattress and she goes willingly with him, so they are laying side by side. Their legs tangle over the sheets, and his hand fell to Lilith’s hip to draw her closer to his body.

Lilith moaned softly, cradling his skull carefully, deepening their kiss. The softness slowly becoming something a little rougher, more desperate and Sans is more then happy to match her ferocity, finds that he needs to feel like this again, like he’s wanted. ~~That he’s not dirty, he’s not!~~

He kisses back just as hard, nipping at her lower lip before giving it a soft suck. He grins into their kiss when that draws a breathy moan from Lilith, the noise making his magic suddenly warm in his soul.

Slowly, her hand leaves the back of his skull, trailing slowly down the vertebrae of his spine, hesitant fingers trailing slowly down his soft t-shirt to its hem. Slowly, Lilith’s fingers brushed at that edge, almost as if she was asking if it was okay to touch him and Sans was stupidly grateful.

His own soft moan vibrated between them, his tongue soft against hers when he took her hand and slipped her fingers beyond the barrier of his shirt. He could feel Lilith smirk into their kiss, her fingers soft at his spine in a painfully light scratch that sent pleasure shooting down between his thighs, and Sans couldn’t remember the last time someone had touched him like this. Like he mattered. Like he deserved something soft like this.  

Her hand moved up his spine, gentle as she wrapped her hand softly around the delicate column of bones, thumbing the soft magical cushion between two of the vertebrae. Sans shivered at the intimate touch, sighing into their kiss and he nips her lip again.

They smile into their kiss as Sans’s hand slipped up the back of her shirt and Lilith arched into the touch with a groan. Her skin is soft under the tips of his phalange, and he counts the scars he finds as his fingers brush over her skin; so many had been torn into her skin, so many that had been healed quickly and ragged by her healing trait that was only meant to keep her alive.

There’s a particularly deep one near her own spine, from where someone had stabbed her in the back with a wide, curved weapon that almost killed her. Lilith shivers when Sans’s phalange dip into void of muscle in her back, arching into the touch with a soft moan. Sans knows he’s lucky, in more ways then one. Knows that the odds of all of this were against him, knows that war should have killed Lilith long before she tumbled into the underground.

All thought blanks from his mind as her hand trails up wards and into his ribs, her fingers ghosting between his ribs lightly. Pleasure tingles through Sans and he jumps at the soft touch like he’s been shocked; its unexpected, especially from someone who has skin and muscles to be so bold to touch him between his ribs.

Lilith freezes beside him, her lips swollen from their kiss and she slowly pulled her fingers from between his ribs, “Sorry.” She breaths, and confusion fills Sans. Why’s she sorry?   

“Was that not…okay?” she suddenly looks uncertain, and Sans blinks at her still not comprehending why she was stopping. “Sorry. I’m not really. Good at this. Most of my. “ she hesitates on the word, “My partners had skin and muscles.”

It clicks in Sans slightly addled brain when Lilith start to pull her hand from his rib cage that she thinks she hurt him, that she’s just as inexperienced as he is and that’s okay.

He catches her wrist, his chuckle a nervous one when he gently encourages her fingers back between his ribs, “Nah. Didn’t hurt.” His voice is low and rough, and it draws Lilith’s eyes back to his to confirm that he is okay, “I liked it.” He added shyly, “Haven’t had someone touch me like that in a long while.”

The concern melts from her face, and her smile is soft again when she directs it at him. Her fingers are a little bolder when they touch his ribs, scraping lightly at the inside of his rib cage before she thumbs the inside of his sternum.

His rib cage has always been sensitive, his spine more so, and his moan was soft when Lilith’s gentle fingertips trailed a soft path along the inside of his rib cage to lightly pinch at his spine. Sans glanced up at her through heavily lidded eyes, arching into the gentle touches and is taken by her delighted grin.

Lilith rolls them over, Sans lets it happen willingly so she can press him flat on his back and she settled between his legs, stretching out over him. His breathing hitches softly when her fingers trail down his spine to brush at his iliac crest before they reach for his shirt to lift part way up to expose his rib cage. Excitement flutters through his soul, and his hands tremble a little with anticipation.

“This okay?” her words are rough, thick with her own want and growing arousal, and Sans can’t help but find the blush that spreads across her face _adorable_.

Sans gives her a little nod, “Yeah, yeah this is fine.” More then, but Sans wasn’t often honest with himself.

The smirk she gives him is devious, her eyes soft as she leans down to lick a wet, hot strip up his sternum, pushing his shirt up higher until her mouth fell to his clavicles, and she _sucked_ on one. Sans’s hands shot up, his phalange burrowing into her hair as a curse fell from his mouth, “Fuck!”

Her chuckles vibrated into his ribs, and hot pleasure shot right between his thighs; his magic swirled heavily beneath his shorts, pooling from his bones with ease and want to tightly pack into his pelvic girdle before taking form.

Lilith hummed when she felt his length press him into her hip and Sans gasped when she ground down into him. Pleasure was hot and heavy in his body, and it had been so, so long since someone had touched him like he mattered.

Lilith’s mouth was hot as she slowly worked her way down his ribs, kissing, nipping and licking her way down as Sans gasped and arched into the touches. She took her time, moving slowly to pick him apart gently and it left Sans panting and wanting; and he did want this he realized. He wanted this with Lilith.

He moaned her name softly when her teeth scrapped against one of his floating ribs, and he squirmed under her careful hands, arching into her clever mouth. She grasped his knee to press it out further giving her more room to settled between his femurs, nosing at the bottom of his ribcage when Sans suddenly froze.

Fear was like a cold wash over him and his soul sputtered, his magic giving out suddenly with a small pop of displayed air. His entire body locked up at the horrifying familiar feeling of someone forcing his leg out and down.

_Vines wrap tightly around the wrist of his broken hand, twining up his legs to pull him taunt against the hot rock at his back._

His breath caught suddenly, and his hands shook, and he couldn’t shake the feeling of horror that swelled in his soul. He knew he wasn’t there; he was safe and with Lilith and nothing would hurt him.

Still, the fear had him choking, and Lilith was pushing herself up, her face pulled into confusion and away from his body even before he suddenly gasped, “Stop!”

Lilith froze, her dark eyes wide with surprise at the fear on his face and Sans had never felt such deep relief as he did when Lilith slowly pushed herself up and away from his body. His shaky hold on his magic was suddenly strengthened, and it rushed back into his body, surrounding him like an old coat, and it helped settle his soul.

Lilith let him go quickly, pulling her hands away like he had burned her, kneeling at the edge of his bed with her hands up in surrender. Sans scrambled away from her, pressing his back into the wall of his room, panting hard and unable to catch his breath.

“Sans.” Lilith’s voice is soothing and calm, “Sans look at me.”

His eye lights had faded into inky nothingness, his chest heaving with every desperate gasp of air.

“Love. Your panicking. It’s okay, just breath, with me.” She took a deep, slow breath, exaggerating the careful inhale then exhale.

Over and over she took slow, careful breaths, encouraging him to do the same until Sans could calm down enough to mimic her rhythm and slowed his panicked panting. Only when Sans could breath normally again, his soul still constricted in pain and shame, he pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes and let out a shuttering breath.

“I’m sorry.” His voice was thick, his hands trembling, and he fought to not feel Flowey’s vines wrapped around his leg and pulling it taunt. He fought not to smell the sulfur from Hotland or to feel the heat at his back. 

Lilith licked her lips slowly, hand still up, “It’s okay. It’s okay Sans. No need to be sorry at all.” She kept her hands up, not making a move towards him.

Hugging his chest, Sans lifted his knees so he could press his forehead into his knees, “I _hate_ them.”

Still unmoving, Lilith nodded softly, “I know.”

“It’s not fair.” He muttered bitterly into his knees, angry and afraid, and Sans can’t figure out which feeling is chewing at his soul, “Why does fucking Asriel get a pass when I get to remember everything.”

Lilith sighed softly, lowering her hands to the mattress, but still not touching, not when Sans was so shaky. She didn’t have an answer for him, and she clenched her hands into fists, fighting down the instinct to go outside and dust the Prince.

She lets out a slow breath though her teeth and shuffled forward on her knees so she could sit in front of him, her legs spread so that she had a foot on either side of his hips. Sans is trembling, squeezing himself into a tiny ball and from her awkward angle, Lilith can see the anger brimming under the surface, his face pulled into fury.

Slowly, carefully, Lilith bends and places her hands on his knees, “Sans?”

Sans startles and glares up at her, before he heaves a sigh, dropping his head onto her hands, eye lights adverted, “I like sex.” He muttered quietly into his knees.

Lilith feels her shoulders drop, feels her soul clench at the hurt in his voice and she feels cold in the face his overwhelming pain.

“Nothing wrong with that.” Lilith tells him softly, her thumbs soft on his knees, “It’s great stress relief.” She can feel something coming, something that chokes her, and Lilith can feel something wrong in the air.

“They took that too.” Sans mutters softly, eye lights blank and his mouth pulled into a frown, see-sawing between hurt and anger.

Lilith’s mouth pulls into a grim line, and she flips her hand to cup his cheek, “No. They didn’t. Not forever, you’re going to get better Sans. You’ll get passed this.” She’s so sure, so confident.

Sans snorts, shaking off her hands so stretch out his legs; Lilith shifts to sit next to him quietly, silently mourning the precious moment that was stolen from them by Olivia and Chara. She will never say this aloud, will never admit to Sans that she’s disappointed. She wants to tell him that she still wants him, that she was honest when she told him that she was going to rock his world. He’s not ready to hear that, not yet and Lilith won’t tell him. Not until he’s ready.

Quietly, Lilith reaches out to take his hand and gives it a squeeze, one she is relieved to feel returned.

“Love you.” She tells him quietly, linking their fingers.

Sans snorts, looking away, “Don’t know why.” His soul churning.

“Because your funny.” She tells him instantly, “And kind. And brave. You faced down your abuser to save my sister.”

Sans snorted at her, leaning his head against her arm, eyes closed, and he relaxed into her, “You maybe bias.”

Lilith shrugs, nuzzling into the top of his head, dropping a chaste kiss to the crest of his skull, “Fuck everyone else.”

Sans laughed, and Lilith is relieved to hear that it sounds a little more like himself. They’re quiet for a while, enjoying the feeling of each other’s body pressed into each other and it’s Sans who breaks the quiet.

“I wish they didn’t fuck this up.” It’s so quiet, so honest and raw that Lilith can feel her soul ache with it.

Lilith is quiet for a long moment, uncertain what to say or how to say it. She isn’t sure what words to say that will reassure him, but she tries and tells him quietly. “Love, this all moves at your speed. We don’t need to do anything tonight that you don’t want to.” _Equally, they can do what ever Sans wants to do,_ she doesn’t say, doesn’t want to pressure him into anything.

Sans hums softly, leaning quietly against her with heavy eyes, and Lilith thinks he may have fallen asleep until he moves.

There’s a nervous energy around Sans as he climbs to his knees, tossing a leg over hers so he straddles her thighs. A nervous smile flickers across his face, and he pushes his shoulders back, lifting his chin as he plants his hands onto her shoulders.

Lilith’s lips curl into grin and she relaxes into the wall at her back, her soul flush with love for the monster in her arms. Her hands ease under his pelvis to better support him, holding him gently as he presses himself against her until they’re flush, chest to chest.

She can feel him tremble against her, can feel his fear in thick waves, “Love. We don’t need to do anything.”

The uncertainty bleeds from him like an open wound and he squares himself up with her, lifting his chin, “I want to.” And even Sans is surprised how steady his voice is, his own steel amazements him, “They won’t take this from me.” He gives her a saucy smirk, that’s still shaky around the edges, “I lava you too.” He whispered.   

He leans forward slowly, pressing his teeth to her mouth in a slow, gentle kiss. Lilith sighed softly into their kiss, eyes fluttering close as she tilts her head to give Sans a better angle; he reaches up to cup her cheeks, to hold her like she’s the most precious thing in the world, and maybe in his world she is.

Smiling into their kiss, Lilith gently laps at his teeth and it doesn’t take much encouragement for his teeth to part to deepen the kiss. She follows Sans’s lead after that, kissing him back as hard or soft as he went. Their tongues tangle and lap at each other, and Sans’s curls against hers, making her moan softly into his mouth. 

They part briefly for air, breathing deeply, their mouths still so close together they can feel the other’s breath against their mouths. Sans licks his teeth, looking a little more confident in himself, pleased that Lilith is looking a little dazed.

Her smile is slow when she vows, “I’m getting us to the surface.”

Sans chuckles at, nuzzling into her throat under her chin, “I have no doubt that you’d dig your way out of this mountain with your nails if you needed to.” His breath was warm against Lilith’s throat, and it sent a shiver down her spine.

“What, and break a nail?” she laughed, squirming under his soft touch, his gentle bones against her soft skin, “Nah, I’ll dig my way through a demon.”

Sans pulls back, settling against her a little more comfortably, looking faux aghast, “And get blood under your nails?”

“Better then letting her get under my skin.” Her smirk is softened by his own amusement, and he pressed his forehead against her lips.  

Lilith closes her eyes, her arms wrapping gently around Sans’s shoulders to hold him softly, enjoying the feeling of his warm body against hers. “I know you will.” He tells her softly, his own eyes closed as he enjoys the feeling of her arms around him.

It’s said with such conviction, so much faith, that it makes Lilith smile, feel humbled by his confidence in her. He doesn’t doubt her that they will escape, that they will get to the surface.

Sans looks back up at her, his grin a little softer and he leans back in for another kiss. Its soft and full of love and hope, and Sans doesn’t mean to summon his soul. Its still cracked and deeply damaged, craving contact of its mated partner, and Lilith’s soul materializes when she feels the call to it.

Their souls press against each other, magic twining drawing each other in, and Sans can feel the love Lilith has for him. He’s happy to pass it back to her as he draws magic from her, their kiss deepening softly between them as their soul’s tangle and their tongue’s lap softly.   

Pleasure coils low in Sans’s body, but he leaves if for now. Right now, he’s content to kiss Lilith softly and let their souls tangle in the gentle light of the green shield that protect them all.

-

Lilith is next to Sans, her hand twined with his as she glared hard down into the kitchen where the unofficial leaders of the resistance of Snowdin have gathered. Everyone a monster and mage that Sans has met, everyone an important part of his life.

Except one.

Sans suppresses a shiver, burying his hurt and fear under a layer of indifference and apathy; from over the banister he could see the very top of Asriel’s head, the tips of his small horns as the child sat at his kitchen table, his mother’s massive form next to him.

Sans squeezed Lilith’s hand harder, taking comfort in the squeeze back from her. It helped centre himself, relax a little and endure being near the young Prince.

“You don’t need to come with down Sans. You can wait up here until we’re done, and I’ll fill you in.” Lilith’s voice is soft next to him, reassuring.

Sans heaved a soft sigh and shook his head no, “Gotta face the kid sometime.” Sans paused then snorted, his smile a little bitter, “Baby goats are called kids right?”

It doesn’t make her laugh, but Lilith does smile, “Yeah. They are.”

He shares a bitter smirk with her, and there’s a flash of blue in his eye before its soothed away, “All right. Let’s go plan a party.”

Lilith’s smirk reflects his bitterness, and her eyes flash crimson, “Battle mages host the best parties.”

Sans snorts, and they make their way downstairs to join the others. Everyone around the table turns to look at them as they walk in, and for a beat of his soul he feels subconscious about it. Feels his own sins crawling down his spine and fears they can see him as the fake he sure he is.

Yet, Lilith squeezes his hand, reminding him that she’s there and that she has his back. It helps him remember that he isn’t alone, not with Lilith and her Den mates and they chose him. It allows Sans to square up to the room, his smile easy if a little shallow and ignore the fear that was trickling down his spine and into his soul.

His eye lights glossed over Asriel’s hopeful face and Toriel’s guarded one, taking a seat next to Felix. The battle mage nodded to him, passing him a cup of coffee as Lilith took the seat next to Sans, and Felix’s foot hooked into Sans’s chair.

Glancing to the mage, their knees brushing Sans saw Felix’s sideways glance and smirk. Lilith mimicked the motion, pressing her whole leg against his, a silent reminder that they are there, and they chose his side.  

Some of the tension melts from Sans’s shoulders, helping him relax between the two battle mages. He knows that it’s their duty to protect the Den, and that includes him.

Glancing around the table, Sans takes in whose there besides the mages; Undyne is next to Sloan with Alphys next to her, their hands locked on the tabletop and Alphys is next to Lilith. Toriel and Asriel are next to Felix, Grillby next to them. Lola was on his other side, with Papyrus between Lola and Sloan. Ryder is at their backs with Mettaton, R01 and R02, leaning against the counter while Frisk sits on the counter next to Ryder. Sans gives her a smile that’s a little more real, a little more genuine and a quick wink. Her little feet swing into the air, and she beams at him and he hopes that she knows she did a good job.  

It’s a tight fit, with them all crammed tightly in the small kitchen, but there’s a buzz in the air that Sans hasn’t felt in a long time. Anticipation maybe. Excitement.

Determination.

“Alright.” Undyne said firmly, instantly brining everyone’s attention to her and the grim reality they are facing, “We’ve got a chance here. A real one, but I can’t stress this enough. This is a chance.” She glances around the room, yellow eye gleaming and looking for any nervousness.

She gives them a sharp tooth grin when she finds none, “We’ve delivered some pretty big blows to the Demon.” Sans sees Toriel flinch, and he presses into Lilith a little more. “The mages coming to Snowdin, Asriel being retuned to us. What happened in Hotland, it’s all helped to shake her hold on us. But the Capital is heavily guarded.”

Undyne glanced to Alphys before she continues, “We have an up-hill battle before us. Those things that Chara had Alphys create are weak in a lot of ways. The important way, but there’s a lot of them.”

“They. They w-will us-use over whelming n-numbers to get to us. Th-they are easy to kill. But the-they will try to corner you. Get you alone, separated from the group to rip you apart.” Alphys’s words are small and hesitant, and it has everyone shifting nervously.

“Needs to be head shots.” Felix said lazily, dropping his chin into his hand while he leaned onto the table, “I put my axe through one’s chest and it didn’t even slow them down.”

Undyne nodded in agreement, “And given time they’ll chew through any magical wall we throw up.

“Could use the walls to pin them for a blaster.” Sans says quietly from between the battle mages, startling everyone with his words.

Undyne considered it, giving Sans a suspicious look as she scratched her chin, “Think you can summon that kind of magic?”

Sans hesitates, glancing to his control hand and gives it a little flex, “Yeah. I can manage it.” He feels Lilith shift next to him, their thighs brushing with her movement.

Undyne nods, turning to Asriel, “What kind of numbers are we looking at?”

Asriel hesitates, glances to Sans and shivers at the chilly look Sans gives him and the open hostility from Lilith and Felix before he speaks, “Lots. Before I. Before I changed Chara was really pushing for them to be created. There will be lots of them.”

Lilith and Felix share a look over Sans’s head before addressing the table. Lilith sat a little taller, her eyes narrowing a little and her voice was soft and monotone, “We can’t let these things come to the surface. We need to obliterate all of them.”

Felix nodded, “We pick our battle grounds. Places we can create choke points, bridges, hallways, that sort of thing. We don’t want to give them an opportunity to flood us, force them into smaller numbers.”

Undyne nodded, pulling out a map of the core and the castle, “We can do that. Here,” she tapped the map of the core, “It’s all tight corridors. It’ll be easy to hold the line.” She pulled the map for New Home, “It’s the same for the castle.”

The mages all nodded, eyes glancing over the maps as Undyne tapped a wider area, “Asgore’s home is wider but it’s the only way left to get to the bridge to the Judgment Hall. It’ll be their best place for us to be swarmed.”   

“Chara stays in the throne room with…with my dad.” Asriel said softly, a little more confidently.

Undyne licked her teeth, when Lola quietly asked, “How are we going to kill it?” Sans saw the brief moment of pain from a kindness soul mage going against everything that made up her soul and saw just as quickly as she buried it, “At the end of the day, Chara is still a poltergeist. Or a demon or something else. What do we do once we get to the throne room?”

They all looked at the maps, and Sans shifted a little harder into Lilith when Sloan spoke in her soft, musical voice, “We banish it.”

Everyone slowly looked to the spell caster, her eyes narrowed in focus, “It’s the only way. If we bind it to the cave, there’s a chance it’ll get out.” Dark eyes glance to Asriel, and he shrunk before her gaze, before she looked back to the maps, “We need to expel it to the Nether or some other plan of existence.”

The warriors all nod, and Lilith adds firmly, “We need to destroy its body and release the soul first.” Crimson eyes glance over the maps, looking for any place that they might get hung up.

Felix smirks, eyes glistening in gentle gold, “Sounds likes a party.”

“I think you need a new definition of what a party is.” Sans smirks at him easily, settling into an easy rhythm with them.

Asriel’s giggle has Sans’s smirk dropping as his soul grows cold and he looks away from the Prince and back to the maps. Clearing his throat, Sans points to the Judgement hall, “We don’t know what kind of shape the hall will be in. Could take some time for us to get through.”

Everyone nodded, and Sloan quietly drummed her fingers along the table, “Once we kill it, we’ll be at the barrier.” Darks eyes glanced to the monsters who suddenly stiffened, and Sans’s hand shot to Lilith’s knee to grasp it hard, “We will need Frisk to bring down the barrier.”

Lilith made a noise at the back of her throat, something like a growl as she glanced to her baby sister and a denial already on her lips, “No, we will need her. Toriel will be in charge to keep the kids safe, but we can’t get through without her. It took seven mages to create the barrier, it’ll take the six of us with the help of the monsters to break it.”

“We also don’t know what kind of shape Asgore will be in.” Undyne said softly, “We don’t know if he’s hurt or not.”

The silence is heavy, and the air tasted bitter between them all and the monumental task before them. 

“Alright.” Sloan said quietly, but her voice was firm and unwavering, “It’s going to be a long night and a hard day. Get some sleep,” she glanced to her Den mates, all of who were used to preparing for battles and war, all grim and ready, “Tomorrow, we push for the barrier.”

Sans sighed and gave Lilith’s leg another hard squeeze.

-

Turning over with a heavy sigh, Sans glanced to Lilith with a frown. The battle mage was sound asleep, breathing softly and deeply, and he had no idea how she could sleep. Not with war looming before them, and even with Frisk’s shaky ability to turn back time, there was no guarantee they’d win.

There was a good chance one of them could be hurt at best or killed at worst.

Sans sighed again, rolling over to put his back to his sleeping mate and hugged his chest. He couldn’t get his mind to settle, and his chest hurt. His soul throbbed in pain and he felt anxious by what tomorrow would bring.

It could bring sunshine and freedom. Escape from the underground, and really have a chance at being happy. Being free and not worrying about resets, not with the magic that the mages have been throwing around and not with their power seeping into the underground. They would be free of Chara.

Sans would be free with Lilith.

But.

But what if they lost? What if they died, what if Lilith died at the hands of that demon and what if Frisk couldn’t turn back time. What if Frisk was taken over by Chara? Or worse, what if Lilith was?

What if, what if, _what if?_

Sans wasn’t sure if his soul could take the heart break if Lilith was the one who brutally murdered him.

So much weighing down on him, so much fear and anxiety.

Sans curled into a ball in his bed, feeling sad and alone even with Lilith laying next to him in bed. Her breathing deep and slow, oblivious to his worry. He tried to sleep, he did but when he closed his eyes he could see Chara’s grinning face behind his closed lids, jerking him awake almost instantly.

With a soft sigh, Sans squirmed between his sheets, trying to sleep, to calm his restless soul with no relief. Lilith sighed behind him, shifting her taller body against him so her face pressed into the top of his skull, her chest pressed against his back and her legs slotted against his.

“You need to sleep.” Lilith slurred behind him; her voice soft with sleep as she snaked her arm over where his waist would be, curling against his spine and then her hand rested against his chest.

Sans pressed back into Lilith, drawing comfort from the women at his back and the protection she offered. His anxiety twisted his soul, “I don’t know how you can sleep.”

Lilith hummed behind him, nuzzling into his skull, “I’m a soldier. An old one, I’m used to this. Took time to get used to sleeping before a mission, but exhaustion has killed many of my kin.” She pauses behind him, sounding a little more awake, “Eventually, if you do it long enough, you just stop feeling everything. Stop feeling fear, anxiety, that sort of thing. Super healthy I’m sure.”

Sans snorts in her arms, and Lilith drops a kiss against his skull, “Part of the reason its so hard to come back from war.” Sans feels her shrug, “Tomorrow will be the hard day, not today. Need to sleep to be ready tomorrow.”

Sans clenched his teeth together, his hands coming up to grip at Lilith’s forearms, and admitted so softly that he wasn’t sure if Lilith heard him, “I’m scared.”

He was relieved when he felt Lilith squeeze him tightly, “I know. It’s okay.” She dropped another kiss against his skull, “Courage isn’t the absence of fear, but triumphing despite it.”

Sans laughs, but its bitter and a little hallow, “Who said that?”

“Nelson Mandela. I’m paraphrasing a bit.” Lilith paused, considering, “There’s a lot of history we need to catch you up to.” She said gently but said with such conviction.

Lilith had no doubt that they would win tomorrow, and that by tomorrow night they’d be on the surface.

Sans wasn’t so sure. He was feeling unsure about a lot of things, vulnerable about a lot of things.

“What if we don’t make it to the surface?”

“We will.” Her voice is firm, and Sans feels a moment of magic crackle around them, “We will. Nothing is going to happen to you Sans, I promise. I’m going to get you to the surface. Nothing will hurt you. I won’t let anything hurt you.”

Sans snorts, settles in her arms a little more, “Don’t need a protector Lilith. I can take care of myself.”

She isn’t offended, just continues to hold Sans in the dark of his room, “I know. I’ve seen what you can do.” _Felt my skin sizzle under the power of your magic,_ is what she doesn’t say, “I know you can protect yourself, but you protected me when I needed it. I will be right beside you tomorrow; you aren’t facing the demon on your own Sans. Chara isn’t going to be able to wear you down until you can’t fight any longer, she’ll be facing a powerful Den of mages. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

It was a promise to do violence and a vow to shield him from the worse of what was going to happen tomorrow, and he just didn’t understand _why_ she cared so much, “Why do you care?” he hissed, clinging to her arm.

Lilith paused, before she settled tighter around him, “Because. I love. You?” she sounded uncertain, like she didn’t understand why he was asking her.

“Yeah, but _why_?” and he’s still feeling so vulnerable and raw.

Lilith paused again, and her soul crushed in on itself at the desperation in his voice. Maybe it was easier to talk when they didn’t have to look at each other in the eyes, and Lilith found the strength to say, “Why wouldn’t I? You’re crazy matches mine. It’s like we click, and I love you. I’m a battle mage, I’ve been protecting my people since I was eighteen and I’m not stopping now. I’m built and bred for conflict and war, to protect.”

Sans snorted again, “The battle-ready model?”

Lilith’s snort echoed back to him, “Something like that. But. You’re my mate Sans. My boyfriend, or significant other, what ever word you want to use. Or, I want you to be” she pauses, and Sans thinks he can hear her breathing hitch a little, “And if you don’t want to be, that’s fine. We’re still friends, still Den mates and I won’t let Chara touch you.” Sans felt magic crackle again and felt anger flicker though it and Sans didn’t need to see her to know her eyes were flooded black with rage she was suppressing.

Sans felt heat creeping across his bones at her admission, to hear it put into words that someone, that _Lilith_ wanted him for realsies. No take backs.

“I want to be your bonefriend Lilith.” He said quietly, squirming in her arms, “And I’m not going to let Chara touch you either. We protect each other.”

Lilith nodded against him, nosing softly along his jaw before she pressed a kiss against his jaw before she settled, “We will. We protect what’s ours.”

Sans rolled in Lilith’s arm, pressing his teeth against her lips in a soft kiss that had her dark eyes fluttering closed. It was soft, and full of love.

When Sans drifted to sleep, it was curled in Lilith’s arms and he didn’t dream of the terror of tomorrow.


	25. Fight Like Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mages and monsters go to war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Readiers, 
> 
> haha, so this was supposed to be the last chapter of this story, but this chapter got away on me. I've been editing it solidly for two days and I don't think I can take editing it anymore. 
> 
> So this is the second last chapter, you all get a bonus with one more! 
> 
> The fight scenes and some of the dialog have been inspired by the fan made DOOM Rap by JT Music. You can listen to this song on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB04b2EaMVU and I would suggest checking out their other music. 
> 
> Enjoy

Sans used to wonder how the monsters could have lost the war so spectacularly. Couldn’t fathom the cruelty of humanity for a long time until he met Chara and everything she had done to the underground.

Yet, even before that, when he had been friends with Olivia and he had been Asgore’s Judge, it had been his responsibility to execute the human children he had found. It was awful and gross, and he felt dirty to bring those innocent souls to Asgore and wondered how such cruelty could come from such innocence.

Yet, watching mages in the heat of battle was nothing to compared to what Chara had done to him and was a twisted version of the innocence of the lost souls.

Crimson drills spun to life from the ground from where Lilith planted herself to hold the line between the monsters at her back and the creatures before her. Sloan was next to her, magic full of her violent intent lashed out in dark blue waves to dissolve the creatures it came in contact with.

Aqua colored spears shot up from the ground amongst the drills and tentacle like magic in waves, trapping any creature that managed to get passed the magic that Sloan and Lilith created.

Sans felt the draw of magic from his soul drag a little when the Gaster Blaster went off with a shriek of magic, whiting out the area with the light and the shadow creatures dissolved into rancid magic that blew away in the next attack.

It was a slow, calculated march and if Sans was honest with himself, it was an extermination.

Felix sighed, stepping up next to him as Sans wiped sweat from his brow, looking bored. He was covered in the dark, rotten magic that had spilt from the creatures that had gotten too close when long range combat wasn’t an option.

With a loud groan, Felix’s head rolled heavily on his spine so that his head ended up nearly on his shoulder, “I’m bored as fuck.” He huffed, looking a little miserable.

Quirking a brow at him, Sans frowned as there was another flash of light blue and dark blue magic that was turned purple when crimson joined it, haloing Felix in light, “Hi bored as fuck, I’m Sans.”

The smirk quirked up at the corners of Sans mouth as Felix’s face did a complicated serious of expression and eventually landing on irritated disbelief, “Dude, was that a fucking dad joke?” 

Sans grinned up at him, bright and mocking when Lilith was yelling for Felix; Sans maintained eye contact, his smirk irritatingly happy as Lilith marched passed the line, swords summoned to tare into the creatures that slipped passed their defense.

She twisted and dodged, her swords easily sailing through the dank magic of the creatures that attacked her; their numbers and disjoined maws of razor-sharp teeth no match for her swords. With ease, she threw a dagger before her right hook smashed into the thick magic of another before her swords where back in her hands.  It was a quick, complicated dance, but one that Lilith knew the steps to very well.

Felix shook his head at Sans, gold filled eyes wide and annoyed as he shook his head at Sans, “You’re the worse.” He groused as he marched into battle after his sister.

Rosie landed on Sans’s shoulder as she waved after Felix, her tiny voice wishing him luck as he waded into battle; he swung his battle axe with the ease of someone who has spent their entire life with it in his hand, taking the head of a creature from its shoulders. Lilith shot by Felix, coming in low and unhooking his rifle from his back; she skidded along the stone on her knees and unloaded the last of his clip into a swarm. Felix laughed as he charged forward, mopping up what was left behind before the next hoard hit. To watch Lilith and Felix work in tandem to fight was something else altogether, and Sans watched in awe as they fought.  

His girlfriend was so cool.

They dipped and dodged, working together to protect each other’s backs and protect each other’s blind spots as they spun and slashed out with their preferred weapons. Creating a line between the on coming slaughter and the rest of those attacking with long range attacks; and it was a line they didn’t only hold but _pushed_ forward with. Years of war making it easy for the two battle mages to know that their only job was to hold the line, no matter what.    

Papyrus shot by his brother to take Lilith’s place, bones made of blue and orange magic taking the place of her crimson drills to help Sloan and Undyne hold the line with long range attacks.

There was a bang of a gun that had Sans flinching as Ryder guarded their backs form anything they missed behind, and Lola’s shield slammed anything he missed into the walls of the castle.

Sans feels himself relax into the environment again despite the violence around them, taking comfort as he watches his mate spin on the thin walkway, her blades slashing through the dark magic of creatures created with hatred and cruelty.

An orange bone shoots up from the ground at Lilith’s back, spearing one of the creatures to protect his mates back, and Lilith gives Papyrus a quick nod in thanks before throwing herself back at the attacking creatures.

Sans feels himself smile, his brother is so cool, and his mate is so awesome; he can hear Papyrus’s bashful _neh heh heh heh_ and knows that Papyrus feels good be able to help his newly found family. He guarded Lilith’s back while she attacked head on.  

It wasn’t an easy march, Alphys was right and they were easily outnumbered by the creatures that attacked, but they had a chance here. They had hope. 

He felt Frisk’s magic prickle around them, her tiny hand squeezing his as she initiated a save in case things went wrong.

“It’s all right kid,” he told her gently, looking down at her frightened face, “We’re gonna win this time.”

Her frightened little face tipped up to Sans, and she gave him the smallest of smiles. Ninety-four times they had pushed for the surface, but never like this. Never with such hope that this time, this would be the time it would stick.

This time, this felt different. This felt more final.

They were coming towards the end of the bridge, forcing their numbers into tighter corners when they were over the golden hall; the stone bridge felt shaky compared to the other structures. The stones shifted with every step, and the bridge trembled under the weight of their marching army, likely still damaged from their failed fight against Flowey that very first time.

It was also at this moment that Sans discovered something about Lilith that anyone who fought next to her in the war knew about; if there was a weak point in the ground, Lilith would find it. Her falling into the cavern with the spiders had not been the first time she had tumbled beneath the ground, and her falling into the void was hardly the last time it would happen.

The stone beneath their feet trembled and shifted. It grew with intensity and the bridge groaned as it began to resettle. A sharp tremble rattled its was way along the spine of the bridge, and Sloan’s eyes went wide as the bridge settled; Sans didn’t understand why she yelled for Felix to catch Lilith until it was too late.

The battle mages didn’t seem to notice the shifting of the ground beneath their feet, they didn’t slow down as they turned the creatures into dust, even when the stones scraped painfully against each other and the brick work shifted and gave way under Lilith’s feet.

Sans felt his soul jump into his throat, remember what it was like to watch her helplessly fall into the void, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to save her. This time, Lilith danced away, her feet light on the stonework as she took the head of another creature even as the stones gave out from under her feet.

Sans could hear Sloan hiss as it started to happen, as the bridge began to collapse and give way at its weak points. He could see Felix turning to his sister, gold eyes wide as he started to trace towards her only to get bogged down by a hoard of the creatures, and Sans could pinpoint the moment that Lilith knew she was going to fall.

Her neutral face has several micro expressions cross her pale features before they settled on annoyed acceptance; instead of fighting the fall, Lilith forced her magic outward, destroying more of the brick that gave way to take more of the creatures down with her. Her body twisted in the air, her summoned knife plunging into the gaping maw of one of the things that fell with her. The creatures were still howling and screaming as they fell with Lilith into the golden hallway below.

When she was gone, Sans felt his soul drop and his throat thicken. Frisk squeezed his hand and made a small noise of despair as her sister disappeared.

“She’s not dead.” Sans whispered, forcing himself to believe it, forcing himself to breath.

From the field Felix sighed, stabbing another creature, “Every fucking time!” he snarled as he danced away from the attacking creatures. He snatched one to throw into its kin, before his axe took the head of another, “She never fucking traces! It’s not hard.”

“Felix!” Sloan snapped at him, blue magic washed over them as she attacked, “Focus! Lilith will be fine; she can handle herself. We can’t let even one of these things get passed us.”

With a snarl Felix threw himself back into battle, the demon within flickering over his face, becoming more solid as he attacked until he was more demon than mage. Then they began to push forward again, pushing hard, and easily stepping over the holes in the ground once the bridge settled, and it took Sans a moment to realize they were leaving Lilith on her own.

Sans gave Frisk’s hand another squeeze and looked back to Toriel and Asriel, and Sans felt his soul double over at seeing the goat kid; but he knew that Toriel would keep Frisk safe, that she wouldn’t let the creatures coming at them get the kid.

Turning her so that Frisk faced him, Sans gave her a weak grin, “I’m going after your sis. Knowing her, she’s going to clear a path to the throne room, and I can’t let her do it alone.”

Frisk swallowed thickly, her eyes glistening with tears as she nodded, _“Be careful Sans. There’s a whole lot of people who care a whole lot about you.”_  

Sans gives her a little _heh_ and pulls Frisk into a hug, “Stay with Tori kid.” Then Sans side stepped into a short cut, ignoring Sloan’s order to stay put.

-

Sans came into the golden hall, tense and ready to fight; his soul pulsed painfully as the short cut pulled on his magic and he fought the wave of nausea that nearly drove him to his knees. He fought the exhaustion that made his head swim and focused on getting this done.

He swallowed hard, his throat thick and dry, and Sans took a hesitant step forward. The hall was still destroyed, the arch way he had pulled down to put a barrier between his friends and Chara hadn’t been disturbed. The doorway where Flowey had come through was still crumbled and the heavy stonework was broken and heavy with dust.

Rotten magic was thick around him, and Sans could taste it at the back of his throat as it floated in the air around him. Thick globs of magic splattered around the room, and a thick pool of blood seeped into the stonework where Lilith had landed hard. Sans ignored the dark red hair that was stuck in the puddle from where she had smashed her head into the stone, and Sans thanked the angle that the creatures hadn’t torn her apart.  

There was evidence of a fresh fight; the few pillars that were still standing where smoking with crimson magic and gouges were torn out of the stone. The slashes cut through the floor were deep and smooth, almost cauterized and Sans could see Lilith’s bloody footprints dancing around the room from where she had walked through the pool of her own blood.

Death and destruction had been wrought here, leaving evidence of a fight but no battle mage; only the wettest of her boot prints headed for the crumbled door way that lead to the throne room, the bloody hand prints told the story of how she climbed over the rocks to a pocket near the top to slip though.

Sans swallowed hard, curling his hands into fists so they wouldn’t tremble, and he refused to be afraid. He wouldn’t allow Chara to cow him into submission, he wouldn’t allow her to harm his girlfriend.

Taking a breath, Sans squared his shoulders and stepped into another short cut.

Appearing into the throne room, Sans rolled is shoulders, coolly walking into the golden room, the sneakers that Lilith had brought him crushing the dead flowers.

His smile was wide and cruel as he relaxed and felt a cold easiness seep into his broken soul; he could fight dirty when needed. Could be a cold, vicious mother fucker when he needed to be, and for his family he would be just as cruel as Death herself.

His gait was lazy and unhurried, and the sweet relief at seeing Lilith’s back nearly drove him to his knees. Instead of giving in to his want to cling to her and short cut them back to her brothers and sister where they would be safe, Sans stood next to her creating a line with her.  

The room was oddly untouched, the golden walls sparkled in the faux sun light, but the flowers that Asgore painstakingly kept alive where dried out and dead. Across the garden, the King himself was bound to his throne, his wrists and ankles raw, and bleeding from where the heavy chains kept him secure.

Next to Asgore, Chara herself smiled back at them, her face half melted as the Perseverance soul fought hard. Her teeth were black with rot, and even from where Sans was standing he could smell the heavy decay.

Sans lifted his eye-lights to Lilith, taking comfort to her next to him and her body threw off hot magic and Sans knew he would be safe next to her, “You good Evil mage?”

Her eyes the color of blood tipped down to his, and it was like a flash back to when they first fought; her reddish brown hair pulled tightly into a braid to keep her hair out of her face, her eyes hard and cold, and her lips the color of blood. The only difference was when he first met her, Lilith hadn’t been covered in her own blood and it stuck to the side of her face. It was slick and wet, glistening in the light of the room from the injury when she had hit the ground from her fall; her healing trait pulling her skull back together after the impact had likely cracked it.

Her smooth, pale moon lit skin and faint silvery freckles nearly shone in the faux light of the underground, and a sudden thought that he was going to kiss her under the stars tonight once they reached the surface made Sans smirk.

Her cold dead eyes warmed only a little when they fell on him, but her smile cut like a knife though her mouth, “Fine.” Her tone was cool and even, no emotion, “Are you okay Sans?”

 There’s something in the way she says his name, the slight inflection that causes a shiver to go up his spine and Sans can see her on the battlefield on the surface. A force to be reckoned with.

_Heh_ , his force to be reckoned with.

Lilith’s smile become cruller, and there is darkness starting to swirl in her eyes from the rage that is only now building, and Lilith is just as relieved to see Sans with her. She isn’t alone, she has him by her side.

“Wanna help me kill a demon?” her voice is cool and uninterested, but Sans can see the way she bounces lightly on the balls of her feet and the way her hands curl loosely around her swords. She’s been itching for this fight.

Sans’s eye-lights fade into nothingness as he reaches for his magic and fights the swell of nausea. His cracked soul aches in his chest, but he pushes it down, now’s not the time to give in, “Oh Lilith. You bring me to all the best parties.”

Chara’s eye’s roll, and her shoulder droops, “Oh shut up will you?” her voice sounds like someone is speaking out from a dirty puddle and it gurgles with putrid magic.  

Sans smirks at her, “Don’t be such a _drip_ Chara.”

Chara’s melting face scowls at him, the blackness of her eyes focusing on Sans, and he refuses to be cowed by it. Instead, he smiles merrily at her and Lilith snerks at his side; Sans can feel her tensing in preparation for an attack.

Lilith tilts her head and the splattered scar across her throat pulls with the movement from where Undyne had stabbed her through the throat and she rolls her shoulders to loosen them.  

Glancing between them, Chara suddenly smiles, her grin cruel and her words aiming to hurt, “You know Sans.” Her voice is oddly sweet, “The rock was my idea. Olivia wasn’t cruel enough to come up with that on her own, but she sure was to use it.”

Sans’s smile slipped a little and cold dread slipped down his spine to engulf his soul, and his mouth was suddenly dry as she continued, “And I’m going to reset this world Sans. I’m going to bring you back to the start of this and I’m going to make you suffer all over again. I’m going to break you Sans, until there’s nothing left to save. I’m going to let Olivia do-“

The bang of a rifle drowned out anything else Chara was trying to say, it made Sans jump even as dread made his none-existent stomach turn; it tore through Chara’s shoulder with a cry of pain and the casting bounced on the ground.

Lilith’s voice was cold and her smirk cruel as her eyes flooded black, “You have no where to go, you should abandon all hope Chara.”

Chara hissed at her, gurgling and thick as the spoiled magic pulled her body back together, “Fuck you battle mage.”

“Well, nothing left to do but fight like hell.” Lilith’s voice was light even as violent magic began to swirl, and that cruelty brought a measure of comfort to Sans, knowing that it was at his side.

Chara hissed, opened her mouth to say something else when Sans summoned a Gaster Blaster; its bright white magic tore through the space between them and it made Sans’s soul throb.

Chara dodged the attack if only barley and Asgore’s muffled cries were ignored as Lilith started to sidestep away from Sans, her rifle firing, the bullets smashing into the viscous magic that makes up Chara’s body.   

The dead mage hissed at them, lifted her hand as the last of Lilith’s bullets destroy it as she summoned a ball of fire to lob at Lilith.

Spinning out of the way, Lilith summoned her swords as she dropped the rifle and took a more defensive position.

Chara laughed, “I’ve been wandering around Hotland Lilith, absorbing all that magic. All that power.” Flames gathered at Chara’s hands, her smile cruel, “All those frightened monsters in the lab, all that extra magic for me to take.”

Lilith charged as Chara fired a ball of fire at her, and her blades slashed through them, breaking up the fire magic easily. Sans widened his stance, throwing a wall of bones at Chara, forcing her back and giving Lilith a little bit of cover.

Chara laughed, barley dodging another blast from the Gaster Blaster, her voice high and amused, “Wow, two on one how unhonorable. I thought you were the good guy-” Lilith traced next to her, her closed fist smashing into the side of Chara’s head, the spoiled magic caving in and splattering her face with the thick tar like magic.

Chara crumbled as Lilith put her weight into the hit, moving with the attack and the blade was summoned just as quickly to slash. Lilith missed Chara my scant inches as the dead mage rolled away.  

“Not really a good guy.” She said lightly, stalking Chara, “More morally ambiguous.”

Chara scrambled to her feet with a snarl, firing another ball of fire at Lilith, leaving her back open to Sans; he sent another wall of bones at her, spearing Chara through the chest and allowing Lilith to charge with swords summoned.

With a cry of pain, Chara ripped herself from the bones, dodging just barely the swing of a crimson sword and Sans summoned another Blaster to lob white hot magic at Chara.

Magic pulled painfully at his soul, and pain burned through him that made his vision blur. He stumbled and his arms wrapped around his chest as pain made his legs buckle, the crack in his soul throbbing with agony.

Sans could hear Lilith and Chara fighting, could hear Chara’s frustrated cry of pain as his vision swam and he cursed himself for using so much magic at once. Nausea roiled in his chest and Sans could taste bile, and he swallowed several times, trying to shake his head to clear it.

Lilith and Chara fought viciously, taring at each other with fire and blades and magic; Lilith’s drills shot up from the ground and walls, trying to tare at the magic that make up Chara’s body. The throne room stones exploding with the impact as they fight and tare at each other; Lilith’s healing trait patching her up, Chara’s rotting magic pulling her back together.

Chara sidestepped Lilith’s swords, backing toward Asgore when they heard Sans gagging; both mages turned to see the monster on his knees, trying to keep himself from vomiting and Chara smirked as Lilith cursed.

They broke away, Lilith tracing to Sans as Chara stepped back towards Asgore, her cold, dead hands gripping at his trident she kept at the back of his chair. Lilith got her body between Chara and Sans, putting her back to the dead mage to cover Sans, with her hands tight on his shoulders.  

“Sans what’s…” her cool voice trailed off as the tips of Asgore’s trident tore through her body, the points a neat little line through her sternum as Sans vision cleared. They both looked down, Lilith not seeming too bothered by the wound, more annoyed she would have to expand magic to heal the wound.

“I’m fine, it’s just…” Sans trailed off, his eyes widening as the fire ball that Chara gathered, swollen and heavy, was lopped at Lilith’s back. Sans gripped at Lilith, trying to pull her into a short cut but his magic spasmed and drained leaving them stuck.

Feeling the heat at her back, Lilith took a sharp breath of air and prepared herself for the pain about to hit her and pulled Sans to her body. She tensed, tucking him tightly against her side, next to the trident points and tossed them sideways; the blaze hit Lilith’s left side, and Sans nearly gagged as the smell of sizzling meat joined the other smells of battle.

They landed heavily on the ground, Sans unharmed and whole as Lilith shivered around him. His soul throbbed and guilt was heavy in his chest as he shoved himself up and out of her arms, smoke billowing up thickly from her limp body. Sans felt his eyes go wide at Lilith’s shivering form and could see her fighting off the shock as her body succumbed to its injures.

The trident was still sticking out of her back, blood pooling around her still body, and it leaked from her mouth in a thick stream, and yet Lilith still pushed herself up with the arm that had held onto Sans so tightly, the other side of her body a chard mess of bubbling and blistering skin. Her left arm was completely gone, and the left side of her face was chard black and her left eye was missing.

Her right eye was unfocused and hazy, the ruby magic hazy and weak as she swayed. Sans felt his eyes go wide, hands hovering over what was left of her body and afraid to touch her. Afraid she would fall apart of he did, “Lilith?”

Lilith swayed and her voice was unsteady, “Y-you okay?” blood dripped down her chin thickly.

Sans nodded, horrified and afraid even as Chara laughed at their backs. Lilith nodded, making her head spin and Sans could see her healing magic already gathering at her missing arm, could see the bones beginning to reform. Half her mouth pulled into a grisly smile, dead skin flaking from her face from where the burn was the worse and blood and serum leaked from the edges where the burn ended, and she was unharmed.

Sans settled to grasp her uninjured upper arm, squeezing hard as she swayed, “Don’t let her shatter my soul.” She whispered before she crumbled to the ground and her eye rolled up into her head, leaving Sans on his own.

Staring at the mangled for of his mate, Sans felt despair grip his soul, hated how still she was. Hated how she was hurt like this because of him, because he was hurt, and his soul cracked. The green magic swirled around her body, knitting itself back together but it left her helpless and vulnerable until she was whole again.

Chara laughed at him, gurgling and high as Sans quietly pet Lilith’s hair and _rage_ filled him.

“Not so pretty now, is she?” Chara asked lightly, chuckling at what she had done.

Sans didn’t lift his head to face her, his hand shaking as he reached for the trident to pull it out, grateful that it didn’t get stuck on her ribs. Lilith didn’t make a noise as the weapon passed through her body again, blood pooling heavily under her as the plug was pulled and green magic swirled at those wounds and Sans took a breath.

She was going to be okay.

“What’s wrong smiley trash bag? Don’t like your girl all full of holes?” Chara laughed and sighed, “Or maybe you just don’t like her all crispy.”

Sans squeezed his eyes shut, fury gathering in his soul and when he opened them, his left eyes was engulfed in blue and gold magic.

Sanding up and stepping over Lilith’s crumbled form may have been the hardest thing Sans had ever done but staring into Chara’s cruel face he knew he would kill her. He wouldn’t let her hurt Lilith while she was pulling herself together.   

His LV roiled and it drowned out the agony of his cracked soul, and when he reached for his magic four Gaster Blaster’s were summoned with ease. Chara’s smirk fell and Sans didn’t feel the pull at his soul, after all he had a deep well of magic. Just as deep as Lilith’s.

When Sans grinned, as the Gaster Blasters hummed with power, “Let’s see if you burn just as easily.”  

Chara barked a laugh, “Well, you would know. How many kids you kill Sans? What was it? Six?”

Sans felt the snarl bubble in his chest, and he didn’t feel the painful tug of magic on his soul, not with how keenly he rode the killing edge.

Chara’s smile fell as the blasters fired, filling the throne room with white light and burning magic. Chara dodged it, faster than Sans remembered as he threw waves of bones at her. She cried as they clipped her, never a direct hit but his karma burning away at her magic and health.

“Why are you fighting?” Chara hissed at him as another blast of magic missed her by a hair, “You can’t win Sans, you and I both know that. In the end _I always win._ ”

Asgore whimpered at her tone, cringing and fighting against his bonds, and Sans smiled, “I don’t need to win.” He said lightly, _I need to buy time_ was unsaid, but it had Chara’s face falling as she seemed to understand.

Desperate, dead eyes suddenly turning to Lilith and finding her body gone; with a scream of frustration, Chara lobbed another fire ball at Sans that he easily dodged. His voice was high and mocking, needling her to keep attacking, “What’s wrong candle wax, you seem a little tense, you really should let all that worry _melt_ away.”

A scream of frustration tore from Chara, her attacks becoming sloppy while she screamed at Sans, “Where is she! Where’s the mage?”

Sans danced around her, his laugh echoing from the walls as he dodged, “What? You think I was gonna sit there and take it? Did you think I would let you hurt her?”

“I hate you!” was screamed back at him, as childish as a toddler’s cry.

Unconcerned, Sans shrugged, throwing another wave of bones at her; Chara tripped over one of them, and the moment her chest hit the ground, Sans pulled bones from the ground, both white and blue, to pin her in place. The bones speared through her chest and stomach, too many to pull away from, leaving her well and truly trapped.

Trapped where she was, Chara screamed and cried like a child throwing a tantrum, her demands to be released ignored as Sans turned to look for his mate. The nausea was back in full force, making his head spin and the pain from his soul nearly dropped him back to his knees now that the threat was managed. He couldn’t kill her, not yet. Not without Sloan here to banish what Chara truly was, else they’d be back to square one.  

He pressed a hand to his eyes, cursing when his vision went spotty, fuzzy and hard to see. He needed to hold it together just a little while longer, “E-evil mage?” he called out, stumbling through the room to find her, his magic spent.

It wasn’t a hard search, Lilith had managed to drag herself against one of the pillars, leaning on it heavily while her healing trait worked hard to pull her back together. The burns on her face where tender and pink, no longer bubbling skin and chard flesh, and her eye was healed, although her eyes were unfocused in shock. She was panting hard in pain, her eyes hazy with agony in equal measures of her gathering shock.  

Sans dropped next to her, keeping a careful hold on his magic to not accidently release Chara when Lilith was still healing. Even that easy hold made him feel sick and tired, like he was slowly bleeding out after a hit from one of his own attacks and karma was draining his energy away.

Lilith’s head bobbed and guilt ate at Sans; Lilith was a good fighter, but she took the hit to save him from an attack that likely would have killed him. Her smile wasn’t quite as broken as before, but she was still dopy with pain, “Hey baby.” She slurred the uninjured side of her head pressing against the stone, “You okay?”

He gives her a little nod, shuffling towards her on his knees to press into her as best he could, her injured arm still reforming after being burned away, “’M Fine.” He muttered.

Lilith hummed, her eyes slipping shut, exhausted from healing her broken body, “What happened?”

Her uninjured arm wrapped around him, and Sans pressed into the small space between them, sinking down to lay his head on her thighs, “It’s my soul.” He confessed it like a dirty secret, “The crack is draining my magic.” A fresh wave of pain washed through him as if to punctuate his point, and Sans fought back the nausea, “Hurts.” He managed to mutter between clenched teeth.

Lilith dragged her eyes open, dry and unfocused, and it took _effort_ to get them to focus in on Sans, “Sans?”

His body was shaking with the effort to hold his magic, to keep Chara contained and it made his head swim. His throat felt like sandpaper and he couldn’t form the words to tell her what was wrong. Lilith fought against the pain in her own body, pushing though it to lean around the pillar to see Chara still fighting to be released, could see Sans struggling to keep her contained and the toll it took on his body.

“Oh.” Lilith managed to slur, then crimson magic spread out from where she leaned against the stone, the weird ninety-degree angles and patterns until it was under Chara; drills shot up from the ground, bright crimson and strong, dragging another pained cry from Chara. Her scream echoed off the wall as she tried to fight against the bounds that held her.

With a firm nod, Lilith pushed herself back against the pillar, pressing her back into the stone so she could drag Sans up against her uninjured side. She tucked his shivering form tightly against her body, her arm wrapping tightly around him so she could pet at his arm, “I’ve got her Sans. Let go, take a break.”

That was all Sans needed to release his magic and go limp against Lilith. His head still spun as he rested against her chest, and his eyes felt heavy enough that he couldn’t fight them as they slid closed, “I’m gonna take a nap.” He muttered against her, his body shaking with the after shocks of pain.

“Okay.” Lilith muttered over him, her own eyes heavy and she fought the exhaustion that was creeping up on her.   

Giving in, Sans fell asleep against Lilith.

It wasn’t a restful sleep, and Sans wasn’t entirely sure if it could be called sleep or simply just passing out. It was hard to say for certain, and Chara’s blood curdling screams would startle him awake, making him reach for his waning magic that made his soul pulse in agony.

Lilith would sooth him each time, her hand gliding over his smooth bones as she eased him back into sleep and each time Sans jerked awake she was a little more with it. A little more healed, a little more whole.

By the time her magic has rebuilt her arm down to the elbow, they could hear voices on the other side of the stone barrier, high and musical, calling their names. Lilith called back, waking Sans from another fitful nap in time to see Sloan and Lola tracing to the top of the stone pile, then into the room.

Green and blue glowing eyes quickly scanned the room before they landed on them, and Lola’s soft eyes widened in shock.

“Lili!” She gasped, and cursed in her mother tongue, a language Sans had only heard in the memories Lilith had shared with him. Lola was next to her sister in an instant, her hands gentle on Lilith’s broken body a different kind of healing trait began to spread over Lilith’s body to put her back together.

Sloan gently pulled Sans from Lilith’s side; her hands painfully soft on his trembling bones as she checked him for injuries while Lilith groaned in pleasure as the rest of her arm was rebuilt with Loloa’s magic. It occurred to Sans then that it must have been painful to have her limb slowly rebuilt from nothing but a burned husk.

He didn’t have time to feel guilt about it then, not with Sloan carefully pulling something out from her pack and shoved a deep blue liquid into his hands, “Sans your magic levels are dangerously low.” His dull eye lights looked up at her, and it took a moment for her words to penetrate the fog of his brain, “Drink this.”

It didn’t even occur to Sans not to do as he was told, lifting the mason jar to his teeth and drink the liquid in deep greedy gulps. It’s cold and thin as it slides down his throat like water from Snowdin, it unsettles his magic for a moment before it sooths into his own, and Sans can feel his magic gathering hotly inside again. It eases the pain in his soul as the magic he had used is replaced gently. “What is this?” his voice is still weak when he looks up at Sloan, but he feels better at least.

“A magical restoration potion. It replaces what magic you’ve lost.” She told him gently, taking the mason jar to tuck back into her bag. “Do you feel better?”

Sans nods, “Yeah. Thanks.”

Lilith is groaning and slowly becoming a little more with it, a little more aware and Sloan helps Sans to his feet with an easy smile, “Of course Sans.” Her smile becomes cruel and hard, “Now, lets go finish this fight.”

Sans smirks at her words, feeling a little stronger, a little more himself, “Happy to.”  

Glancing to his mate, Sans makes a small noise of relief; Lilith is whole and strong again, the healing helping her the rest of the way. Lola reaches a hand down to Lilith, who takes her by the forearm to be pulled up to her feet with a refreshing smirk, and with a flick of her wrists her swords are summoned.

Lola pats her newly healed upper arm, and Lilith blows out a breath of air slowly through her teeth, “Fire sucks.” She utters as she tilts her head one way, then the other to crack her neck. The noise makes Sans cringe, and he pulls a face.

Lilith gives him a small grin and an apologetic shrug, “You okay Sans?”

Giving himself a little shake, Sans nods, “Yeah, I’m okay.” His hands shake a little, and his soul twists. They seem so confident, so sure and Sans is so uncertain with what’s about to happen.

Lilith gives him another small, reassuring smile, bending to kiss his mouth; she tastes like blood and magic, but it’s the sweetest thing Sans has tasted. Like a breath of fresh air when he couldn’t breathe.

Lola’s small, pleased noise, almost like a _daww_ makes Lilith pull away from him to give her sister A Look.

Lola seemed to be immune to Lilith’s Look, and it helps Sans relax next to them, grinning at them. “Heh. We almost died.” He suddenly says allowed in an oddly merry voice, sounding almost hysterical about it.

It makes the smirks and Looks drop from the mages faces, and Lilith looks at him concerned. She takes his hand, linking their fingers to squeeze at his, her voice soft, “I know Sans. Its okay. We’re okay.”   

“Maybe you and Lilith should wait here while we go finish with the demon.” Sloan says gently, the cold in her eyes thawing a little in exchange for concern over his wellbeing.

It makes Sans shake himself a little, fighting down the horror and panic, to shake his head no, “Nah. I’m fine.” His smile is a little brittle at the edges of his grin, but he firms himself up, “Let’s just get this done.”

Lilith nods, gets it, and the warmth from her face disappears. On the other side of the fallen stones, they can hear voices, it sounds like Undyne making her way up the stones, but the mages ignore it in favor to come around the pillar. Lilith keeps her hand linked with Sans, her grip tight and unwavering as they round the corner shoulder to shoulder, to come face to face with Chara.

She managed to look up, her face goopy and runny, dripping with thick magic. When she smiled, black magic dripped from her mouth as the four of them came up as a solid defensive line, “Ah, smiley trash bag, your girlfriend looks better.” The holes that acted as Chara’s eyes flickered down to their hands and she chuckled, “Cute.”

Still pinned, Chara looked up to Lilith, “You know I won right? I may not have fucked him, but I won.”

Sans squeezed at Lilith’s hand hard enough to bruise and rage filled Lilith’s face. Without saying a word, Lilith lifted her foot to slam it down, smashing the thick, viscous magic that held Chara’s head together, smashing her bulbus head like a rotten pumpkin. Thick black magic exploded outward as her head was destroyed. The struggling Perseverance soul appeared as the magic that made up Chara’s body began to break apart, and Asgore’s muffled cries of anger were ignored as a sharped bone speared the soul as it hoovered in the air over the bubbling goop.

When it shattered, Sans said a prayer for the child who had died for nothing, squeezing Lilith’s hand tight enough that it would probably bruise to a deep black and purple. He wanted to feel relief, he did, but dread filled his soul when Asgore began to scream and he cried in earnest at the sight of the creature that wore his daughters face melted into the nothingness of dead magic.

Unease began to fill Sans when he felt Lilith go still next to him, her magic hot and bubbling, her eyes crimson as though she were waiting for an attack. She didn’t let go of Sans’s hand even as gravity disks pooled outward from her boots.

Sloan’s eyes slipped shut, her own gravity disks spiraled outward under her own booted feet as she began to chant under her breath; the same disks appeared under Lola, and with a swift flick of her wrist she summoned a shield around Asgore.

“Lilith?” Sans’s voice was hesitant, his own magic gathering in his control hand, his soul throbbing and uncertain what they were waiting for.

Lilith suddenly pulled him in tightly to her body, her arms wrapped around him tightly so that he stood between the two gravity disks, his back pressed into her chest. Her voice was soft against his skull, “Don’t let go of me.”

He banded his own arms around Lilith’s, clinging on just as hard as she held him. He nodded, his teeth clenched, his magic bubbling hotly as he waited for _something_ to happen.

“I’m going to hurt, everyone you love.” Chara’s voice hissed, but it sounded far away when she shimmered back into view. Whatever was left of Chara, whatever she had become, stood over the decaying remains of what she once had been.

“If you think this is over, you are mistaken.”  Chara hissed, and Sans cringed back into Lilith’s body with a sneer.

“Rot in hell.” Sans hissed back.

“You’re awfully brave Sans, when your big, bad battle mage is all wrapped around you.” Chara hissed back.

Anything Sans would have said in turn was lost by Sloan’s words, chanting in a language that Sans didn’t recognize and when she opened her eyes they shone azure.

Lilith and Lola began to chant the same words, low and rhythmic, and Sans could feel power and magic swirl around them. Heavy with protective intent, and a feeling of _one,_ of Den. Three mages of one mind and one soul chanted, and the crimson magic from Lilith and the emerald magic from Lola swirled and funneled into Sloan for a spell that was powered by three.

Ruins shimmered into view behind Chara, and the dead mage turned to look behind her in confusion as power began to gather into a central point.

Sans tilted his head up to look up at Lilith, not understanding what he was seeing, but not daring to break the mages concentration. He held on for all his worth and hoped whatever they were doing was enough. It had to be enough, it had to be.

The ruins gathered heavily behind Chara, creating a circle that swirled with magic of three mages. The magic swirled hotly, tightening into a ball before it dissolved into a portal. Sans jerked back in surprise to see the sparkling nothingness beyond it, almost like the void or something similar.

Lilith’s arms bounded around him tighter as they chanted louder before stopping all together. It was eerie how they could do it so simply, just _stop_ as one and it reminded Sans that his mate was a mage at her core. That she and her sisters were made of iron will and deep magic, and it was uncanny when they worked as one.  

“We banish you Chara, from this land.” Slone said slowly, carefully, her usually musical voice as dead as Lilith’s.  

“We banish you.” She said again. And again. And again, until Lola and Lilith joined in.

Wind, unnatural and cold began to blow. It started slow and soft, like a caress against Sans’s bones before it began to pick up until it was a hurricane. The wind blew hard, or maybe it was like hands pulling at Chara into the world that Sloan had opened.

Lilith’s feet lifted off the ground from the force of the wind, but the disks under her kept her in place, leaving her to hoover and balance with Sans in her arms; Sans was forced to squeeze his eyes shut as he clung to Lilith’s arms tightly, afraid that he would be lost in the world of nothing if Lilith’s grip loosened.

Her arms bound around him tightly, and the wind howls; Sans squints through it and he can see that Asgore has been thrown against the barrier that Lola wrapped around him. Sans is sure he’s screaming, but all Sans can do is laugh.

There’s a joke in all this somewhere. There has to be, there has to be something hilarious here, Sans just isn’t seeing it beyond his terror.

Still, he laughs as the wind blows harder and the mages are like stone and give no ground.

Just beyond them, Chara is screaming. She’s fighting the wind, against the magic that is dragging her into the void. Whatever she has become, it isn’t strong enough to fight the magic of three adult mages who have come fully into their power.

Sans forces his eyes open, fighting the wind in time to see Chara scream as she’s dragged backwards and through the portal, human like claw marks are left in the stone; thick gelatinous fluid left a trail to the portal. Her eyes burned with hatred, but then in a blink she was gone, beyond the portal and into the void.

The portal snapped shut once Chara was through it, and the wind didn’t fade gently. It was just unnaturally gone, nearly sending them all to the ground without it pulling at them. They stumbled forward, Lilith catching him before they hit the ground.

White eye-lights blinked at where the portal had been shaky and shocked, “Holy shit.”

Lilith was panting behind him, still squeezing him too tightly like she was afraid of loosing him and frankly Sans wouldn’t blame her if she held that fear. If she needed to hold onto him a little while longer, Sans certainly wasn’t going to disagree.

Sloan stretched, cracked her neck and her fingers, “Well that’s been a while.” She said lightly, as though it was the most normal thing in the world to banish something to the beyond.

“W-where’d she go?” Sans asked as Lilith straightened up, groaning as she did so.

Sloan gave a little shrug, “To the world between worlds. Someplace where she can’t hurt us anymore.”

Settling a little, Sloan beamed at Sans, “Well then. Shall we go see about this barrier thing?” It was like a switch had been flipped, the objective had been achieved and changed, and suddenly Chara didn’t matter anymore. She was dealt with and gone, and suddenly their only challenge left was the barrier. It made Sans’s head spin a little, they were so close.

Lilith yawned and finally let Sans go so she could stretch out her spine, “Finally.” She groused. “I’m ready to sleep in my own bed, thanks.”

Glancing up at Lilith then to Sloan, Sans gives them both a curious look, “That’s it? We’re going to the surface?”

Lilith frowns at him and the amount of hope in his voice makes her soul ache, “Yeah love. We’re going to the surface.”

Sloan nods, the smile softer on her lips now that Chara is dead, “Yes, now. Where’s the barrier?”

Lifting his hand, Sans points the way, “Just a hop, skip and a jump.”

Lilith takes his hand, linking their fingers again with a nod, “Lets go then.”

Sans hesitates for a moment to spare a glance to Asgore and his tear stained face. The King is openly weeping, likely over losing his child once again, seeing her banished into another dimension and hopefully never seen again, “Should we cut him lose?”

The mages all hesitate, three sets of eyes flashing to the King and they all give a little shrug. There is so much _not caring_ in that simple movement, that it takes even Sans a moment to process. Asgore isn’t one of theirs he realizes; Sans is and getting him to the surface is their priority.

“Undyne’s coming.” Lilith huffs in way of an answer, already leading him to the barrier.

“Likely best to leave him to her care.” Sloan agrees.

Inwardly, Sans snorts, “Heh. Sure. I’m sure the angry fish lady is the picture of comfort.” He says dryly.

Still, Sans follows the mages and doesn’t feel bad to leave Asgore where he is, and the King doesn’t try to stop them.

-

Sans feels funny standing at the barrier.

He’s sure he should have felt excited, or afraid or something.

Maybe he had just finally shut down, and all he can feel is guilt. Guilt at all those that didn’t make it. Guilt for all the times that he’s failed the underground and failed the people. He failed his father, his brother, himself.

Sans looks down, feeling uncertain as Sloan presses her hands to the magical barrier that keep them all trapped underground, the humm from her chest is soft and nearly lost by Undyne’s loud, rough voice from the other room.

Squeezing his mates’ hand, Sans hangs onto her tightly. He tells himself again and again that it’s okay, that Chara was gone, he was safe, and things weren’t going to reset again. He was going to be okay, he deserved to be here, he _did._

“Sans?” Lilith’s quiet voice interrupted his thoughts, soft and reassuring.

He looked up at her and felt himself relax under her gaze, watched as the concern melted into love. He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, but when she frowns at him with concern again, he thinks he must have not hit his mark. “I’m okay.” He tried to reassure her, “Just overwhelmed.” He admitted, “It’s a lot.”

Lilith nods, and he isn’t sure how she can be so blasé about it all, “I know. I know, it’s been a rough go of it.”

“How are you so okay with all this?” he asks suddenly, staring up at her with…he didn’t know what. Hope maybe? Desperation. They were so close now, and he could hear Asgore’s deep, heavy sobs from the other room as Asriel likely approached his father with an unbelievable story of how he came back.

But not the story of what he had done as Flowey.

Lilith turned to look at him fully to offer a regretful grin and squeezed his hand, “It’s like war. Never have time to cope or deal with whatever hits you next. You’ve always gotta keep moving on.” She gave a little shrug, “No time for anything but survival until we get home.”

Sans swallows hard, eye-lights glancing to the barrier, impassable and frightening, and his face contorts into something like grief and fear. Lilith squeezes his hand, “Hey. Hey, it’s okay Sans. Everything is going to be okay.”

He nodded, tried to believe her, believe that this time would be different. They stared at each other, Sans uncertain and afraid, but gave Lilith’s hand a little tug. She followed the tug, bending down to meet him and Sans looped his phalanges through the belt loops of her pants to pull her closer to his body; he leaned forward to press his teeth to her mouth in a gentle kiss.

Lilith sighed and made a pleased noise against his mouth, her tongue softly lapping at his teeth to deepen their kiss, and his hand reached up to cup at her cheek. It was warm and soft, a gentle promise.

“We’re going to be okay.” She whispered against his mouth when they broke apart, pressing her forehead to Sans’s, and it soothed his soul. It was going to take time to get used to that, to being able to kiss her like that.

Sans sighed softly, relaxing slowly and letting the tension leak out of his bones and he nodded against her, “Yeah.” He tried to believe it; he really did.

Lilith snorted at his lack luster response, “One of these days Love, I’ll get you to believe me.”

Sans gave her a little smirk, but anything he might have said was drowned out by Felix sauntering into the room, his voice loud, “Fate behold me Lili, you two are _disgustingly_ adorable.”

Straightening, Lilith rolled her eyes while she licked her lips, still tasting Sans on her tongue, “Do you have to ruin everything?”

“It’s a gift.” Felix said merrily, winking at Sans, earning a snort from the monster, and just like that the precious moment it over.  The wash of cold indifference that settled over Lilith when she fought was back again, her eyes like chips of ice and there is no hint of the gentle smile. Felix smiled back at her, “You look like shit sis.”

Lilith snorted, sounding annoyed, “You look like shit.” She countered, and Felix faux being hurt.

“No, but really girly,” he reached out to pull a flake of dead, charred skin from her upper cheek, “You look like shit. What’d you do, get caught in a dumpster fire?”

The smile Lilith gives him is bitter and cruel, and it tells Felix all he needs to know; his eyes go wide, “No shit?”

Lilith shrugs, and that simple movement tells a novel to Felix. Concerned gold eyes flick to Sans, “You good?” and Felix looks relieved when Sans nods.

With his face pulled into a grim acceptance, Felix takes a defensive position on Sans’s right, while Lilith doesn’t let go of his left hand until his brother follows Ryder into the barrier room. The moment Papyrus sees his brother, the worried look fades and delight replaces it, “SANS!” Long strides bring Papyrus to his brother, and only then Lilith releases her tight grip on his hand, “I WAS SO WORRIED!” his brothers long arms wrap tightly around him, squeezing him uncomfortably tightly, “BUT OF COURSE YOUR ALRIGHT, I NEVER HAD A DOUBT.” 

A little of the warmth came back into Lilith’s eyes at the sight of them hugging, a gentle fondness at seeing him happy. With a quick smile, she turns to her Den to figure out how to break the barrier, confident in their ability to keep them all safe with all the mages back togeather.

Sans’s own arms went around his brother’s chest, squeezing him hard, “Ah thanks bro. But really, I knew you’d be okay. A cool dude like you, I bet you showed those things what’s for.”

Papyrus puffed up, his cheery grin beaming at his brother, “AND WE DID SHOW THEM WHAT FOR!”  he glanced nervously to the mages as they murmured at the barrier, his voice dipping a little, “Although, Asgore does appear to be in a fair bit of distress. It seems that he believed the demon was in fact his lost child and wanted us to save Chara.” Sans feels his grin fading at that fact, feels something hot burn in his chest, “But rest assure brother, we have explained to him that Chara was a bad person and not one to be saved.”

His brother grinned at him, bright and happy, “Asgore told us that the mages banished the demon, which is for the best. She will not be able to hurt you any longer brother.”

Sans gave him a little, watery laugh, “Yeah bro. She’s gone.” And his brother was safe, and so was his mate, “Can’t hurt any of us anymore.”

“Yes, as I have said, for the best.” He paused and pressed his teeth against the crown of Sans’s skull, “I love you brother.”

Sans chuckles again, snugging into his brother, “Ah, I love you too bro. More than you’ll ever know.”

Papyrus squeezed him tightly, “I am so glad you have found your mate. Lilith will be good for you, do right by you and we are going to get to the surface. Now.” His nervous eyes glanced up to the whispering mages, “Do they know how to get to the surface?”    

Sans turned to look at the barrier, and its shimmering magic like the night sky, and his soul longed for freedom, “I don’t know. I hope so.”

They turned to watch the mages as they clustered at the barrier, Sloan’s long, delicate fingers pressing into the wall. They stayed clustered together, talking quietly until Undyne joined them covered in soot and grim of battle but unharmed.

She glanced nervously to the mages, then to the brothers and back again, “So. Can we break it? Can we get out?” her voice is hesitant and uncertain. If Sans hadn’t known better he’d have said she was afraid of the answer.

“This magic is old.” Sloan’s voice carries to them, soft and musical, “Weak. Mages have evolved over the last number of years; we have gotten much stronger then when we went to war with the monsters.” Her fingers drum on the glass like surface with a frown, “This is a shield. Powerful for its time, but a small Den could have burst through the other side during the war.”

Sans, Papyrus and Undyne share a look, and it’s Undyne’s hopeful voice asks, “Soo, you can break the barrier?”

“I said we could break it from the other side.” Sloan’s eyes shone blue, “It’s difficult to break a shield like this from the inside.”

“So, we’re stuck?” the hope drained from Sans like air from a balloon.

“Not yet. Seven were needed to build the shield, seven will be needed to take it down from the inside.” Sloan’s grin sharped into something else. Something full of spite, “And we just so happen to have seven human souls here.”

The three monsters blink at her before the grin on all three of them widened. Undyne’s voice was light as the brothers straightened up, “I’ll go get the kid and the Prince then.”

Then Undyne was gone, off to fetch the Prince and Frisk, and Sans tried managed to give Lilith a small grin. Nervousness and anticipation bubbled from his nonexistence guts, and when Lilith held out her hand to him, Papyrus practically shoved him at his mate.

Turing to glower at his brother’s too innocent face, Lilith chuckled, “Thanks Paps.” Then she pulled Sans tightly to her side.

Papyrus beamed at Lilith, pleased at how she tugged his brother so readily into her side, “OF COURSE LILITH. SOMETIMES SANS NEEDS A LITTLE PUSH.”  His eyes practically sparkled happily, “SOMETIMES HE NEEDS A GOOD HARD SHOVE.”

Lilith laughs, and the wait seems to take an eternity, but when Frisk and Asriel step into the room, Sans knows his life will never be the same. It feels like a finally, the end of something horrible and maybe the start of something good.

Sans has hope as he clings to Lilith and welcomes Frisk back into their fold with a tight hug. She’s pulled between his body and Lilith’s, and the word _family_ floats in his mind. His brother is beaming at him from behind, Lilith’s siblings are smiling at her, and Sans feels like he’s found where he’s meant to be.

When they break apart, Sloan is speaking softly as Asgore and Toriel come into the room as well, their eyes red with tears, “To break the barrier, seven human souls must touch it and push forward with all their magic. All your might. All of your determination, and patience, and bravery and justice and kindness you have.”

Her glowing blue eyes flash to Asriel, “Little Princeling. You are the seventh.” Asriel’s eyes went wide and he took a step back towards his mother as Sloan continued, “You were gifted a kindness soul by a child who died down here. Do not squander their gift. You have a chance to help us save your people and our families.”

Sans squirmed uncomfortably next to Lilith as she ensured that she stayed firmly between the Prince of monsters and the Judge.

A small nod was all it took, and Sloan’s face softened towards him, “Good. Now let’s line up and break this shield.”

Sans took a step back to stand with his brother, Papyrus reached down instantly to grasp tightly at his hand and for a moment Sans feared it would not work. Yet, when the mages lined up with their hands pressed to the barrier, not one of them hesitated.

They stood side by side, Frisk and Asriel in the center of their group, their hands flat to the barrier and at first nothing happened. It was a slow build up, of gathering magic that swirled around the mages and Asriel, binding them together.

Sans clung to his brothers’ hand as the magic swirled and built up around them, drawing magic from every monster in the underground. That magic pushed forward with the force of not only the mages but the monsters who longed for their freedom, and it was shoved towards the barrier with the force of everyone’s hopes and dreams.

White light filled the area, the magic hot and blinding and Sans lifted his hand to block the light.

He could hear someone laughing, someone calling his name and before he passed out Sans was certain he could hear his father telling him everything was going to be alright.


	26. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The End of the story is only the start of another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this is it friends, the last chapter of the story. I hope you all enjoyed the ride, and the characters that live here. I'm not done with this universe, and you will see Sans and Lilith make some new friends in coming stories as they find their place on the surface. 
> 
> For everyone who has read this story, thank you so much. For everyone who has commented, thank you. It means so much to me that you've taken the time to say something nice and it kept me inspired to keep going. 
> 
> Thank you all.

Looking up at his father, Sans felt a knot of tension loosen from his soul and it brought tears to his eyes as he cried out for his dad. He didn’t know where he was, or how he got here, almost like the white sparkle of nothingness that made up the void; but he knew that his dad was here and that’s all that mattered.

Gaster smiled at him as he drew Sans into his arms and into a tight hug, another hand petting at his back while another pet his skull.

_Sans_.

Sans ignored the voice calling his name and clung to the black robes his father wore, “Dad!” he sobbed softly, despite the soft hushing from Gaster “I miss you so much. I tried to do what you did. I tried to be you and do what needed to be done for the underground, but I couldn’t! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

_Sans, love please wake up._

Gaster hushed him, soothing his eldest son like he had when Sans had been a child, “I’m proud of you Sans. So proud.” Gaster told him gently, clanking his mouth to the top of Sans’s skull, “You have done so well. You fought so hard; I could not be prouder of you Sans.”

Sans sobbed harder and clung to Gaster, “Dad.” He felt like a kid in stripes again, “Dad I’m sorry.”

Gaster hushed him, soothed away his tears and pressed another kiss to Sans’s skull, “Sans, my son. You have nothing to be sorry for. You did your very best, you stood between a cruel demon and the underground time and time again.”

“I was the Judge. I am the Judge, I know you didn’t want me to be the Judge. You didn’t want me to be a killer, but I am. I was so afraid when you died, I was so lost. I didn’t know what to do and we were _starving_. I couldn’t do the science thing, I wasn’t you, I couldn’t.” Sans said in an emotionally charged rush, as though he were trying to cleanse his soul of his sins, feeling like his father was going to judge him for his crimes and find him lacking, “I didn’t want to be a killer.”

Gaster hushed him softly, “I know Sans, I know. It wasn’t fair, and I’m so sorry I wasn’t here for you. That I couldn’t protect you.”

_Sans. Sans please wake up. Love, don’t. Don’t leave me._

Gaster sighed, brushing away the last of his tears, “I’m afraid that our time is up Sans. I’ve given your mate a good fright to have this moment with you.”

Shock rocked Sans’s soul, make him blink up at his dad in hurt, “Wait. Wait dad, I’m not ready. I need more time; I want to talk to you. There’s so much I need to ask. I never got to say goodbye.”

“Oh Sans. I’m always here for you. Always. Even when you can’t see me, even if I can’t always answer you.  I’m always here, I promise.”

_Sans, please_

Sans hiccupped softly, “I love you dad.”

Gaster smiled, clanking his teeth against Sans’s skull, “I love you too Sans. Go live your life. Be happy.”

Sans opened his mouth to say something else, but his father’s smiling face disappeared into the white light of the void and sparkling, glittering magic.

-

“Sans. Sans please wake up.” He could hear Lilith’s terrified voice over him, could feel her calloused hands on his face. Her thumbs stroked under his eyes, and her voice was near pleading, “Sans.”

He started to move slowly, shifting under her hands and swallowing before he found the energy to open his eyes. It felt like sandpaper under his eyelids, and his throat felt like he had been swallowing rocks.

“Evil mage?” he crocked, the vision above him was blurry, but he could see her reddish-brown hair and too pale of a face. There was something he was forgetting, something important. Like the last dregs of a dream, and the harder Sans tried to remember the more the memory became whisper of smoke in his memory. He remembered something in the void, he thought. Something warm and soft, that wiped his tears away, but the last dregs of the memory slipped away, and Sans was left with only the feeling of someone caring a whole lot about him.

Lilith gave a nervous little laugh as his vision cleared, and he sighed at the sight of his mate leaning over him. Her eyes were ruby and watery, and she was blinking far too hard as she stared down at him with relief that nearly made her sob.

“Hey baby, you scared the hell out of me.” Lilith told him, and it was then Sans realize he was laying on his back, his head in Lilith’s lap.

He grinned up at her, “What can I say, I’m always _falling_ for you, honestly we need to stop meeting like this.”

From somewhere behind Lilith, Sans could hear Papyrus huff in frustration and mutter _oh my god Sans_ , and it made Sans smile.

Lilith smiled down at him, “Okay good. You’re okay.” She lifted his hand, pressing a kiss to his fingers and then to the inside of his wrist, “You want to try sitting up?”

He didn’t, not really. He was comfortable where he was, but he knew that if he refused Lilith would probably carry him. He didn’t really care so much, but, eh, he’d frightened Lilith enough. Didn’t need her thinking he was dying.

Pushing himself up, Sans rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, feeling a little sick and a little sore, but he was alive, “Where is everyone?” he asked, his voice thick.

Lilith smirked, “They’re just outside.”

Sans pauses, takes in her words before his eye-lights jump to the opening to the cavern and the lack of a barrier. There’s nothing stopping him from going outside now, the cave is simply just that. A cave.

Hope and fear suddenly spike, and Sans’s eye-lights shrink down into pinpoints, his mouth falling open, “Lilith?” his cracked soul clenches in his chest, and his breathing hitches.

“Are you ready to go outside?” her voice is soft, her smile is crooked, and Sans can’t help but feel the _terror_. What if this is a trick, what if Chara gets him? What if he loses this all again?

“It’s okay Sans.” Lilith’s soft, firm voice brings his eye-lights back to her and the ruby of her eyes is comforting. Lilith is right here; she’s not going anywhere without him and she’d fight the devil for him.

Sans gives her a shaky smile, “I’m ready to go outside.”

Smiling softly at him, Lilith helps him to his feet and the walk to the mountain edge feels like a longest one of his life. Each step is more agonizing then the last and Sans feels his anxiety spike as fear bubbles under his soul. It feels cold and wrong; he squeezes Lilith’s hand and focuses on breathing slowly.

His teeth clench painfully tight as they come to the end of the cave, and sunlight is filtering into the dark cave; and just like that Sans is free.

The sun is setting as Lilith guides Sans to stand next to his brother, the sky beautiful oranges and pinks, and the forest below them is dark against the bright sky. From where they stand, Sans can see the mage compound; a multi floor building that is flat and long at the base of the mountain. There’s a lake just behind the building and a garage that is nearly as tall as the compound itself.

Anxiety bubbles and Sans expects Chara to appear and take this all away. His mouth feels dry as he waits, the gut-wrenching thought that at any moment he’s going to lose his mate and the friends he’s made. He’ll carry the trauma with no wounds to show for it.

Yet, the ninety-fourth time Papyrus gasped at the sight of birds, and the ninety-fourth time that Undyne sobbed at the smell of fresh air, nothing bad happened. It was the ninety-fourth time Alphas was mesmerized by the invisibility that was a soft breeze, and it was the ninety-fourth time Sans smiled at the setting sun.

His smile reached his eyes this time, and Sans laughed a little hysterically, “We won.” He gasped out, his knees going weak at the thought and Lilith kept him on his feet. Taking a hesitant step out from the craggy outcropping of the cave, honest tears prickled at Sans’s eyes as he bent to pick a small white flower from the earth. Lilith didn’t once let go of his hand, simply patiently walked with him, her eyes scanning the area for any threat.

Sans can feel her relax almost the moment the sun hits her skin and Sans can swear that she glows in the dying sunlight. This is her territory, and up here Lilith and her Den are in charge.

“It’s beautiful.” Papyrus’s voice is painfully small, an awe that Sans has never heard from his brother. Usually they don’t get to enjoy the sun this long.

Lilith smiles down at Sans, her voice soft, “Yeah. He sure is.”

Sans gives her a shy smile, but any pun dies in his throat when something massive blots out the sun and he can hear gasps of fear around him. Lilith looks up, the ruby darkening to crimson for a moment before she releases her magic completely and her eyes go dark brown.

Sans moves closer to his mate as the thing begins to circle overhead, magic at his fingers to better protect Lilith’s back with. From the corner of his eye he can see Undyne summoning a spear and Papyrus a bone, only to be waved off by Sloan calling out, “It’s okay, stand down. He’s a friend!”

That’s all the warning they get before the massive creature, the size of a house, landed heavily on the edge of the mountain. Sans clenched at Lilith’s hand, even as the crazy battle mage lifted a hand in a wave, “Hello Wren! Have we missed much?”

The creature, _the dragon_ , hummed and examined its long, sharp claws before it spoke, “Lady Lilith.” The creature nodded in respect before its lizard like eyes flickered towards the others, “You have been gone a long time. Four month, two weeks and two days.”

Sans pressed into Lilith’s side as she shrugged, “Got busy.” She said coolly, making the dragon smile at her with razor teeth that were easily as long as Lilith was tall.  

The dragon hummed, its long neck twisting to get a better look at Sans. He swallowed his terror and tried to square his shoulders; glancing back at the others, Sans took comfort in the fact he wasn’t the only one afraid.

“I can see that.” The dragon mused, its long tongue flicking out at Sans, “It has been several ages since monsters have roamed the surface.” Another flick of the tongue, “And I thought all the skeleton monsters were dead. Glad to see I was wrong.”

“Careful Wren.” Felix said cheekily as he slung an arm over Lilith’s shoulders, “Lilith is in love with the skeleton man.”

Green eyes of a dragon widened, flicking uncertainly to Lilith. The mage puffed up, face dirty from battle, still covered in blood from the fight and grim as if she was daring him to say anything. Wren relaxed and chuckled, his wings fluttering with the amusement of an old creature who had seen far too much, “Ah. This will break many a heart of many a warrior. You should count your blessings monster.” Wren adjusted his wings, its smile wide and sharp in what Sans hoped was friendly.

“What news do you bring us, dear Wren?” Sloan asked, stepping forward and saving Sans from any embarrassing questions.

Wren nodded to Sloan, “Lady Sloan. You have been missing for two weeks and two days. We have followed your instructions to keep the territory safe, however it attracted the notice of your Coven leaders.” The massive head tilted, “You did not say to eat them, so we have not. However, they are waiting for you to return to the compound to discuss your recent disappearance.”

 “Oh great!” Felix said merrily, “The walk of shame!”  

Wren purred at his words, “Demon.” He nodded to Felix, the word said with the respect of a creature who had earned it from a dragon, “Indeed a walk of shame. They have been quiet concerned at your sudden disappearance. They will be most interested in this latest development.” The dragon eyes flicked to Sans and Lilith, “Very interested.”

Lilith rolled her eyes, and Sloan hummed, “Perhaps it be best Lilith, to let us speak to our Coven leaders before you and Sans join the rest of us.”

Sans grit his teeth and Lilith glared, but it was Undyne who sneered, “Why?”

“Because,” Wren answered merrily, his massive wings flicking with excitement, “Battle mages are notoriously protective. Violently, _viciously_ so, a result of the war and selective breeding. Their parents, and their parents, parents have all been chosen by coven leaders for their aggression and magical depth. If your Coven leaders react aggressively towards the monsters or towards the relationship, Lilith will choose her Den and all who reside within it. Including the monster.”

The dragon’s eyes slip to Sans, “She will start, and end, a war.”

There’s the feeling of shock from the monsters that surround them, and Sans hesitates but knows its true long before Lilith gives a little nod, “Fair.”

“Exactly. We don’t need to start a war with our Coven leaders. Better for us to prob a little so we know what we are dealing with.” Sloan agreed, her eyes finding her sisters, “It is not because we are ashamed, but if we are to go to war I would rather have a plan.”

Lilith huffs and nods, “Fine. I suppose sleep can wait a little longer if it means not going to war.” Sans snorts at Toriel’s horrified face, but Papyrus is nodding along with their words.

“FEAR NOT BROTHER! I SHALL NOT ALLOW YOUR MATE TO WAGE ANOTHER WAR. I SHALL WIN THESE COVEN LEADERS OVER, AND FOSTER PEACE AND LOVE.”

Felix nods at Papyrus’s words, his grin a little cruel, “And if not, doom it is!”

Lilith rolled her eyes, and gave Sans hand a squeeze, “Sans. Do you want to go see the stars at the top of the mountain?” her hand waved awkwardly at her sister, “While Sloan…diplomats this.”

Sans grinned at her, a little self-conscious with the prying eyes of a dragon, “Yeah. That’d be great.” He paused, trying to relax a little, “I don’t know a short cut here though.”

Lilith smirked, glancing to Wren, “That’s okay Sans. I do.”

-

Sans sat in front of Lilith, his hands in hers as he stared up in awe at the night sky; the starts twinkled brightly in an array of color that Sans had never seen underground.

The wind was cool against his glossy bones this high on the mountain, but it also promised a season of snow to come despite the summer heat.

The grass was a bright shade of green, still healthy from the cooler temperatures this high up on the mountain, and Sans couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed with how much space there was on the surface. He could see for miles, past the mage compound, all the way to the town of Ebott, and the forest beyond it.

Yet, the stars above sparkled like a painting, something that was other worldly and almost not real and all Sans could do was stare.

Lilith watched him quietly, still covered in grime and blood from their last encounter with Chara, her hands holding Sans’s while her thumbs brushed at the top of his hands. Sans was watching the sky in awe, but Lilith was watching him as her thumbs traced the metatarsals of his hands.

Something moved along the night sky, blinking slowly along the inky blackness, “What is that?” he asked, his voice an excited, frightened whisper.

Lilith looked up, squinting at the sky, “Satellite.”

“You can see them?” he asked, brows furrowing. There was so much he needed to _learn_.

Lilith looked back to Sans, her face softening at his look of awe, his eye-lights bright with wonder and curiosity. Something warm fills Lilith, something soft and precious, and she knows that she’ll kill to protect Sans from harm.

This is her territory, and up here things are different. Her name alone is enough to stop most fights from escalating, or even starting, and she’ll use that to her advantage to protect Sans.

“You can.” She tells him gently, “You can see Mars in the summer, but it’s a bit late in the year for that, and Venus you can see at sunrise and sunset.”  

Sans looked down at her, eye-lights bright and misty, and suddenly Sans is blinking far too hard. It makes Lilith frown, and she squeezes his hands when he asks her, “Do you think this will stick?”

His hands shook a little, and Lilith felt like she had been punched in the chest with this sudden grief, “Sans.”

“I can’t do it again. I can’t go back.” He told her, a little desperately and he isn’t sure where the overwhelming _hurt_ came from. Like a knot of grief had just been undone in his chest and suddenly he can’t contain it.

Lilith hushes him softly, pulling him into her lap so his legs bracket her hips and his chest is pressed against hers; she squeezes him to her chest, “Hey. Hey it’s okay Sans. You’re okay. It’s going to stick this time, I promise.” And if it doesn’t, Lilith will _murder_ someone, “We’re not going through that again.”

Sans gives her a shaky, watery sigh and nods. He let her hold him for a long while, the stars twinkle overhead and they both know that Sans has a long way to go for recovery. It’s going to be a long process, a hard one, but he won’t be alone.

Pulling back only when his breathing steady’s, Sans wipes at his eyes with the back of his sleeve, “Heh, sorry. Don’t know where that came from.”

A small smile curls on Lilith’s lips as she cups his cheek, and her soul _purrs_ when Sans pushes into the touch softly, “It’s okay. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing this a lot, don’t feel bad for it.” Lilith had seen the same in soldiers either traded back to their side or rescued during the war, suddenly overcome with emotion that they couldn’t fully explain. A relief so soul deep it was debilitating.

“I love you.” Lilith whispered to him, and it was enough to sooth Sans’s anxiety for the time.

Sans makes a small noise, almost like a laugh, and his voice is so soft, Lilith almost missed the quiet, “I love you too.”   

She didn’t miss the gleam in Sans’s eye-lights, nor the shy smirk as he stretched up to press a kiss to her mouth. Sans sighs into the kiss despite that Lilith still tastes like blood and battle, her mouth is still velvety soft and warm.

His hands search for the edge of her vest, trying to find the soft skin of her back as her own fingers tug up the hem of his shirt to skim at his spine. He shivers against her, and his magic pools heavily in his pelvis as Lilith’s mouth kisses along his mandible to his cervical vertebrae.

_Cheeky_ Sans thinks when Lilith’s teeth nip too gently at his throat and thinks it’s very unfair that he can’t get her shirt up high enough to touch just as much.

They jump when something heavy lands next to them, magic at their fingers and Sans feels his head spin a little when he summons a Gaster Blaster. Too much magic in such a short time.

Wren grins that toothy smirk down at them, the dragon’s eyes bright with amusement, “Lady Lilith. Your sister has asked me to summon you. The council has reacted amicably towards the monsters.”

Lilith snored, helping Sans off her lap before she pushed herself to her feet, “I bet they did.” She mutters dryly, knowing that regardless how the Coven felt they weren’t stupid enough to challenge them on matters like this.

Not when they spent their lives fighting in a war for the right to live.

Wren shrugged his massive wings, still looking amused and Lilith knows she will be the gossip of the dragons for the foreseeable future.  

She swallows her annoyance at bored, gossipy dragons and turns to Sans. Holding out her hand, Lilith gives him a real smile. It’s bright and warm, and Sans isn’t sure if he has seen one like that before, “You ready to see the world love?”

The prospect is terrifying. Sans never thought they’d make it to the surface never mind having it stick. Beyond the mountain is something new and scary, and he doesn’t know how this will all play out, a thought that suddenly terrifies him.  

Sans is used to knowing what’s going to happen next, knowing the flow and the outcome. This is new. This is scary.

Yet, looking up at Lilith’s soft, confident smile, Sans grins back and takes her hand, “Yeah. Yeah I am.”

Lilith grins back, and Sans knows he’s going to be okay.

-

Sans opens his eyes and looks to the window.

It’s snowing outside, he thinks. The blinding white out is the only thing that could cause it to be so bright out, so white that he can’t see outside at all, and his soul stops.

He can’t be in Snowdin. He can’t, he can’t, _he can’t._

He can’t be underground again; he can’t do that all over. He won’t survive a second time down there, not when he got to see the surface, not when he got to love Lilith. His sudden panic makes him freeze, his eye lights fading and his breath hitches. His soul _aches_ and he can hear birds singing.

That small fact is enough to break him from his panic and realize that he can smell coffee from downstairs. That the bed he’s sleeping in isn’t on the floor and the sheets aren’t a crumbled ball of dirty laundry. He can hear voices downstairs, not only his brothers, but others as well.

Sans takes a breath and realizes that the white from outside isn’t a blizzard blowing in but the sun. Sans sighs as she sits up, stretching with a pop of his spine, muttering “Fourth time this week.”

He looks around the soft blue room that he has shared with Lilith since coming to the surface and takes comfort in it. The bed sheets smell like her, and Sans sighs knowing that everything is still alright. It’s been two re-set, Chara free weeks.

Climbing out of bed, Sans stretches and doesn’t bother to dress before heading downstairs for breakfast; the boxers and the white t-shirt are soft on his bones, softer than anything he would have found underground.

Coming down the stairs, Sans can hear his mate’s voice. She’s annoyed and he smirks to himself. The slight inflection in her monotone voice is enough to give away her feelings to him, and he can hear their lawyer’s desperate voice respond back.

Sans chuckles to himself, it sounds like Liam is getting raked over the coals again. Poor Bastard.

Liam Convertni was the best lawyer on the mage’s payroll, and not just the Pandora’s Den but their entire Coven. In the courtroom he was brutally efficient, a frightening lawyer.

But this wasn’t his courtroom. This was Lilith’s territory.

“Lilith, please. See reason.” Liam begged as Sans came into the kitchen, fighting back the smug smile at seeing Liam beg.

He took a seat next to his mate, and for a moment Lilith’s face softened as she pressed a kiss to his cheek before turning back to Liam with cold rage, “I am seeing reason Liam. And the answer is not- a -fucking- chance.”

Liam sighed as Undyne slid a cup of coffee to Sans, her sharp smirk just as bright as his at seeing Liam and Lilith argue. She and Alphys had moved in with the mages while the rest of the monster population had been put up into hotels in the city of Ebott until something else could be figured out.

Undyne said it was to be near her bestie, but Sans wondered if it had to do with the mages Den magic. Sans didn’t get the whole thing, but it made Papyrus happy to have Undyne live with them.

Liam sighed and physically banged his head on the table with a dull thunk; Papyrus poked his head out from the kitchen, where Lola was teaching him how to make pancakes and shook his head, “LIAM, YOU SHOULD NOT HIT YOUR HEAD SO HARD. YOU HAVE BRAINS IN THERE THAT YOU WILL NEED LATER.”

“Thank you Papyrus.” Liam’s muffled voice sighed from where he pressed his face flat to the table.

Lilith snorted and finished wrapping her wrist for her training session with Felix; Sans put milk in his coffee and leaned his chin onto his hand to better enjoy the show.

“Sloan, please talk sense into your sister.” Liam begged, looking desperately for an ally.

Sans smirked, knowing he was barking up the wrong tree. Sloan glanced up from her reports, her manicured nails shining in the light as she rose a delicate brow at Liam, “Liam.” She said his name as though she were scolding him, “I agree with Lilith.”

Liam sighed, “Of course you do.”

“Of course, I do.” She agreed a little more aggressively, her tone verging onto hostile, “Liam. What the humans are proposing, is utter none sense. Mages don’t have to put their LV on their ID cards. Mages are not punished for using magic to protect themselves, how dare we expect the same of the monsters. No, I will not stand for it.”

“But it’s the soul thing.” Liam tried again, pushing his black hair from his blue eyes with a huff.

“And I don’t care.” Sloan said firmly. “No, the monsters will not be punished for what is inherently normal to them. Now Liam, we pay you a great deal of money to sort through this bull shit. So. Sort.”

Sans snorted, hiding it by taking a drink of his coffee.

“Or else we will.” Felix chimed in, his eyes flashing gold in what everyone can see as a threat. Rosie happily munching on her toast by his elbow.

Liam sighs, “Alright. Alright, I’ll reject this and see what I can do.”

“Very good Liam,” Sloan says happily, “Would you like some breakfast.”

Liam knows better then to refuse food from a mage, knowing they would see it as a slight against them, “Sure. Thanks Sloan.”

Sans smirks at him, knowing he’s been beat and he’ll have to come up with something better.

Lilith’s hand finds Sans on the tabletop, and he turns his hand over so he can link their fingers. She smiles at him, and he smiles right back, filled with love and peace. He knows Lilith has his back and loves him deeply, just as deeply as he does her.

And Sans believes that everything will be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> To Be Continued...


End file.
